
Book^Lf 



PRESENTED UY 



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STUDY OP THE SECTS. 



BY 

WILLIAM H. LYON, 



One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, 
and in you all. — Epheslans iv. 6. 



&tltf} lEUtttOtt* 
WITH AN INDEX. 



BOSTON: 

UNITARIAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL SOCIETY, 

25 Beacon Street. 

1895. 



.Us 



Copyright, 1891, 
By the Unitarian Sujsd ay-School Society 

Gift from 
Mrs. Etta F. Winter 
Sept. 20 1932 



^nttottg Press: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



PREFACE 



This manual has been prepared at the request of the 
Unitarian Sunday-School Society for the use of the older 
classes in the schools to which that valuable body minis- 
ters. It may also be found useful to adult readers. Its 
aim is to present on the one hand a just and sympathetic 
account of the history and beliefs of the various bodies 
considered, and on the other hand to show plainly wherein 
Unitarians differ from them ; to counteract the bigotry 
and conceit from which Unitarians have by no means freed 
themselves, and at the same time to show, how weak and 
inconsistent is the position of those Unitarians who are 
anxious to have it understood that there is not, after 
all, much difference between them and their Evangelical 
brethren. The fundamental idea of this book is that the 
difference between the two parties is as great as that 
between the Evangelicals and the Catholics, or would be 
if our Orthodox friends would stand still long enough to 
be photographed distinctly. The study of this subject 
and the consultations I have had with various representa- 
tive men have surprised me by revealing the state of con- 
fusion and change in which all beliefs except those of the 
Roman Catholics now exist. Few of those who claim to 
hold the faith of their fathers are aware how far they have 



IV PREFACE. • 

drifted from that faith, or what chameleon powers words 
have to assimilate themselves to the mental environment 
of succeeding generations. 

Realizing the danger of misrepresenting the beliefs of 
others, I have submitted, so far as I could, the various 
chapters to revision by prominent members or friends of 
the sects treated in them, and have in every case ac- 
cepted the corrections made. This is true of the chapters 
on the Jews, Roman Catholics (doctrine only), Episco- 
palians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, Friends, 
Universalists, Unitarians, and Spiritualists. I am thus 
indebted to the Rev. Messrs. Raphael Lasker, Richard 
Neagle, L. W. Saltonstall, A. L. Plumb, D.D., R. J. 
Adams, Bishop R. S. Foster, D.D., C. C. Hussey, 
E. L. Rexford, D.D., Grindall Reynolds, and M. J. 
Savage. 

The entire chapter on the Society for Ethical Culture 
was written by Mr. W. M. Salter, and the doctrinal part 
of the one on the New Church by the Rev. J. K. Smyth. 
I am also greatly indebted to the Rev. H. G. Spaulding, 
Secretary of the Sunday-School Society, for many sugges- 
tions and much aid in putting the book through the press, 
and to the unknown but acute and learned proof-readers 
of the University Press for valuable corrections in both 
form and matter. 

The word sect is used in no invidious sense, but as a 
convenient term for the parts into which the Christian 
body is actually divided or dissected. The words Evan- 
gelical, Orthodox, and the like are employed in their 
popular sense, without any concession of their literal 
truth ; nor must the word Liberal be construed as imply- 
ing that the onl} T liberality in religion is to be found in 
the bodies so named. 



PREFACE. V 

The manifold nature of the subject has involved an 
amount of labor not likely to be appreciated by am T one 
who has not attempted something of the same kind. Yet 
the necessity of giving to it only the fragments of a busy 
life may well have left it lacking in unity as well as 
mistaken on single points. As I review the extent of 
ground covered and the number of questions answered 
which have puzzled the saints and the ages, I fear to draw 
upon myself the latter half of the judgment pronounced 
upon Whewell, that 4k science was his forte, and omnisci- 
ence his foible." Still more do I tremble at nay temerity 
in daring to state the belief of Unitarians, which I have 
done against my wish and at the request of the Society 
which publishes the manual. Yet some such book seems 
to be needed, — is certainly demanded; and this may 
serve till a better one takes its place. 

W. H. Lyon. 

The Study of All Souls Church, 
Koxbury, May 1, 1891. 



XOTE TO SECOXD EDITION. 

The only change of importance in this edition is in the remarks 
on the Society for Ethical Culture, pp. 180, 181. While I am grate- 
ful for the unexpectedly cordial reception which this book has found 
with both the religious and the secular press, I am sure there must be 
errors which a more careful reading might have detected. I shall be 
sincerely grateful for any corrections which may be suggested to 
me. 

W. H. L. 

Roxbury, Sept. 16, 1891. 



CONTENTS. 



Part I. — THE JEWS. 

Part IL — THE CHRISTIANS. 

Chapter Page 

I. Doctrines held by Christians 13 

1. Creeds, 13. — 2. Source of Authority, 17. — 3. God, 22. — 

4. Jesus, 24. — 5. Human Nature, 29. — 6. Salvation, 33. 

— 7. The Future Life, 39. — 8. The Church and the Sacra- 
ments, 45. 

II. The Roman Catholics 52 

III. The Old Catholics 62 

IV. The Eastern Church 64 

V. The Protestants 69 

Section I. — The Evangelical Protestant Sects, 

1. The Lutherans, 77.-2. The Reformed Church, 82. — 3. The 
Episcopalians, 85. — 4. The Reformed Episcopalians, 96. — 

5. The Presbyterians, 99. — 6. The CongregationalistSj 109. 

— 7. The Baptists, 119. —8. The Moravians, 125. — 9. The 
Methodists, 127. — 10. The Salvation Army, 135. 

Section II. — Certain other Protestant Sects. 

1. The Anti-Sectarian Sects, 137. — 2. The Friends, 140. — 
3. The New Church, 147.— 4. The Adventists, 154. 

Section III. — The Liberal Protestant Sects. 

1. The Universalists, 158. — 2. The Unitarians, 163. 

Part III. 

SECTS NOT CALLING THEMSELVES CHRISTIAN. 

1. The Society for Ethical Culture, 179. — 2. The Spiritual- 
ists, 181*. — 3. The Mormons, 187. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 



Part I. 
THE JEWS, 



' Whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving 
of the law, and the service of God, and the promises ; whose are the fathers, 
and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh. —Romans ix. 4, 5. 

Name. — The Jews were originally called by others Hebrews, 
or u those who came over," because Abram and his family came 
over the Euphrates down into Canaan (Gen. xii. 5). They called 
themselves Children of Israel, after Jacob, or Israel (Gen. xxxii. 
28), from whose sons or grandsons the Twelve Tribes were said 
to have descended. After the Captivity they were called Jews, 
sl name at first given to the Tribe of Judah, who formed the chief 
part of those who were carried into exile at Babylon, and who 
returned to found the nation as we know it. 

History. — The word Jew is applied to a nation and to a 
religion. Until the last century all Jews by birth were Jews by 
religion also, but since that time a rapid divergence in beliefs 
has taken place. It is the religion which we have especially to 
consider. 

The Jews belong to that branch of the human race called the 
Semitic, of which the Arabs, Assyrians, and Phoenicians were 
also members. They are therefore of different descent from most 
of the nations among whom they dwell, who are of the Aryan 
family, — a difference which has probably had something to do 
with their isolation. From the Semitic races have come three of 
the great religions, — Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism. 

1 



Z A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

The history of the Jewish religion may be divided roughly into 
three periods, formation, affirmation, and reformation, or, accord- 
ing to their distinctive marks, sacrificial, Scriptural, and rational. 

The period of formation extends from the beginning to the 
return from exile. The family of Abram came down from Ur of 
the Chaldees to Canaan, and, migrating thence, grew to a tribe, 
and settled upon the borders of Egypt, from which they were led 
out by Moses, who made Jehovah, or Jahweh, their distinctive 
God, and grave them as law the " Ten Commandments" and a few 
ceremonial precepts. Coming back into Canaan, their religion was 
much corrupted and confused by contact with the worship of other 
gods, whose existence they acknowledged, though they claimed 
Jehovah as the most powerful. Worship consisted almost entirely 
of sacrifices, offered during their wandering-time in the Taber- 
nacle, but after- David had made Jerusalem the fixed capital, in 
the Temple. Toward the latter part of the period a remarkable 
class of men. the Hebrew Protestants, arose, called " prophets,'' 
or u spokesmen," — in their own tongue, "seers," — who strove 
to hold the people to the worship of Jehovah only, and to make 
that worship consist of a just and pure life as well as of ceremo- 
nies. These elements were still contending when the Exile ended 
the national existence. 

When the Jews, comparatively few in number, returned 
(b.c. 536), they were marvellously changed. Their religion 
gathered less and less around the altar, but more and more around 
the Book Separated from their Temple and its sacrifices, they 
had still many of their sacred writings; and their zeal had cen- 
tred in the minute study of these. The Temple was rebuilt, 
indeed, and the sacrifices restored on a magnificent scale; but 
synagogues, or meeting-houses, rose all over the land, in which the 
reading and exposition of the Law and the Prophets became the 
centre of interest ; and by the side of the priests and Levites, who 
conducted the sacrificial worship, rose the scribes, lawyers, rabbis, 
etc., who were students of the sacred books, and the Pharisees, 
Sadducees, Zealots, etc., who were divided on their application. 
Idolatry had disappeared forever ; and Jehovah became to all, not 
merely the most powerful national god, but the only God of the 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. o 

world. As His chosen and peculiar people, the Jews proudly 
withdrew from all unnecessary intercourse with the " Gentiles,'' 
or nations, and forbade intermarriage with them ; while as a con- 
solation for political subjection to them, they clung tenaciously to 
their belief in a Messiah, or " anointed one " of God, who should 
subdue the nations, and make His people the masters and teachers 
of the world. There had also crept in or been developed a belief 
in immortality, in angels and devils, and in the divergent destiny 
of the good and the wicked, which to most meant respectively 
Jews and Gentiles. 

The appearance of Jesus made no appreciable difference in this 
religion, except to intensify it under the persecution by his later 
followers. Christianity became a religion of the Gentiles. The 
destruction of the Temple with Jerusalem, in 70 a.d,, not only 
dispersed the surviving Jews over the world, but put an end 
to the sacrificial side of their religion. It lived henceforth only in 
the synagogue and the home, and only as a religion according to 
the Scriptures. The Books became a bond between the dispersed 
and persecuted communities, and received a wonderful but morbid 
microscopic study. The comments of various revered rabbis 
were collected into a second work, called the Talmud, which 
became almost as sacred as the original books. The first part of 
this, the Mischna, or commentary on the text, was finished about 
a.d. 200 ; and the second, the Gemara, or commentary on the first 
part, about A.D. 400. To keep the text of the Law pure through 
all copying, there grew up the Masora, or study of the form, 
under the care of learned men called Masorites. The shameful 
persecution of the Jews during the Middle Ages, their pathetic 
fidelity to each other and to their religion, and the development 
of their national characteristics should be carefully read, but does 
not belong here. 

The third period, the reformative or rational, came on slowly, 
and has become distinct only in the last hundred years. The 
Reformation brought the Jews little mercy at first, though the 
revived prominence of the Bible led to the study of Hebrew, but 
the growth of kindlier sentiments and broader views in general 
have gradually freed the Jews from all political disabilities, and 



4 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

set the national talents free for a development which has been no 
less than wonderful But the change in their religion, thus opened 
to the influences of modern thought, has been as great. The ma- 
jority of the more intelligent have thrown off the yoke of the 
Talmud, and a large and increasing part treat even the Law in a 
free, rationalizing way, agreeing with the most radical of the Gen- 
tile scholars in the treatment of the questions of inspiration, mira- 
cle, and the like. Though the national consciousness and loyalty 
are still marvellously strong, they are melting at their outward 
edges ; and the race may in time be amalgamated with the rest 
of mankind. 

Doctrine, — As the Jews own no authority above the individual 
congregation, they have no common formal creed. The varia- 
tions in their belief are very great, ranging from the extreme 
" orthodox," who have kept the faith almost if not quite intact, 
to the extreme " reformed, 7 ' who are hardly to be distinguished 
from rationalistic theists or even agnostics. Converts to Chris- 
tianity are extremely rare. 

The distinctive doctrines of the Jews in Jesus' day were the one 
God, the "chosen people, ? the Messiah, and the divine origin and 
authority of their sacred books, especially the Pentateuch, or Law. 
Of these, the lofty and pure though severe and cold idea of God 
has been held against modern trinitarianism, as against ancient 
polytheism. That the Jews are His chosen and favored people, 
destined to rule the world, is a belief that is rapidly dying, though 
still held by the more ignorant in the Old World. It survives, 
however, in an almost universal pride of race and of its history, 
which shows itself especially in refusal to marry with " Gentiles," 
and even to be buried in the same cemetery with their. The ex- 
pectation of a Messiah, or political and religious eider, who 
shall be sent by God to gather His people into Palestine again 
to begin their rule of the world, has even more completely dis- 
appeared. The " Mosaic" Law, though treated by many "re- 
formed " Jews with great latitude of interpretation and practice, 
has still a great hold upon the race as a whole. It is always read 
at public worship, partly in Hebrew. The Sabbath is observed 
upon the seventh day of the week, beginning at sunset on Friday 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 5 

and ending at sunset on Saturday, but generally only as a day of 
public worship, to the men usually nominal. The commandment 
to do no work on that day is found by all but extreme orthodox 
Jews impossible to obey in Christian lands. It is proposed to 
change the Sabbath to Sunday. Circumcision is commonly prac- 
tised. The distinction between " clean" and " unclean '' meats 
(Lev. xi.) is still regarded, at least in the home ; and the only 
tlesh eaten is that killed by men approved by the rabbis, so that 
the blood (" which is the life ") is surely drained out. A most 
remarkable change, however, is the entire abolition, or rather 
silent abandonment, of the sacrificial system, once the centre of 
public worship, but made impossible by the banishment of the 
Jews from their own land and its Temple, and their scattered and 
persecuted condition. On the other hand, belief in immortality 
and its corollaries, which have been noticed as added to the an- 
cient beliefs before Jesus' day, are still retained. Of course, the 
denial of Jesus' Messiahship carries with it denial of all the 
theology which has grown up around it in most Christian creeds, 
— the incarnation, atonement, etc., as well as the authority of the 
New Testament. 

The modern Jew holds his public worship in u synagogues,' ' or 
"temples." It is liturgical, consisting of prayers, some very an- 
cient, but varving in different books : reading from the Law and 
from the Prophets, which are divided into lessons for the purpose; 
a sermon, and a benediction. The worshipping body is called a 
" congregation/' and consists nominally only of men who are heads 
of families, ten at least being necessary, and is governed by 
trustees with president, etc., like most corporations. In very 
" orthodox " synagogues, the women sit apart in a gallery, which 
is sometimes latticed. There is usually a Sabbath-school. 

Various religious festivals are observed, as the New Moon ; the 
New Year (about September 6) ; the Passover (in March or April, 
like our Easter) ; Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks (May), com- 
memorating the orivingr of the Law from Mount Sinai ; the Feast 
of Booths, or Tal>ernacles ; and Purim (March), which celebrates 
the Jewish victory recounted in the Book of Esther. 



6 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

The debt of Christianity to Judaism is seldom fully appreciated. 
It was the hardy stock into which the graft that was to overshadow 
the world was set. That the Jews did not appreciate Jesus when 
he came is no more strange or culpable than the resistance of 
Roman Catholicism to Protestantism, of Lutheranism to Calvin- 
ism, of Calvinism to Methodism, or of the old faith generally to 
the new one that is born from it. A frank study of the Hebrew 
prophets also shows how little resemblance Jesus bore to the 
Messiah actually predicted by them, though it reveals how much 
affinity often exists between his teaching and theirs upon the 
nature of religion. 

From Judaism Christianity inherited the conception of a pure 
and single God ; the belief in immortality ; the custom of preach- 
ing as a part of worship, and indeed the general elements of public 
service ; the Sabbath ; the Ten Commandments ; and many of 
its finest precepts, as some of the Beatitudes. The defects of 
Judaism which Christianity filled up were the cold separation 
of God from His creation, and especially from the human soul, and 
the separation - of religion from the common duties and affections 
of life. The God of the Hebrews was far superior to the sensual 
gods of the nations around them and to the half-human gods of 
even the classic nations. Though severe, He was holy and rev- 
erend, and far above such deeds as the Greeks and Romans 
attributed to their deities. The Christian idea of His Fatherhood, 
by which His own life was conceived to be in the souls of men, 
inheriting this nobility of conception, has brought God near to 
men without degrading Him or making Him common ; and the 
Christian idea that " the true liturgy and undefi'ed before God the 
Father" is daily acts of love and self-respect, has made religion a 
warm and living thing. As we shall see, however, the popular 
Christianity, in concentrating worship upon Jesus, has again set 
God at a distance as a stern and implacable King, while it has 
degraded religion often into a repetition of Jewish ritualism and 
ceremonial pettiness. 

The treatment of the Jews by ''Christians" is one of the 
worst stains upon mediaeval and modern history, as it has been in 
direct violation of the spirit and even of the precepts of him who 
said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 
The vitality of the Hebrew stock through all persecutions and 
the brilliancy of its modern sprouting and blooming are evidence 
of the vigor of the stem in r o which Christianity was grafted. 
The peculiarities at which Christians are so incensed are largely 
the result of the treatment they have given ; but if, as seems 
likely, there is to be an amalgamation of life, if not of belief, 
both will be gainers. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 7 

In secular life the Jews are remarkable for their aversion to 
trades and agriculture (a great change from their ancient ways, 
and due to their exclusion from guilds and the like during the 
Middle Ages) and their aptness for financial and mercantile life. 
They have many brilliant representatives in literature, art, and 
music, — such as Mendelssohn, Heine, Disraeli, the Rothschilds, 
and many others of note. Their home-life is very pure and 
domestic. They care for their own poor most generously, and are 
remarkable for their general health — due to " Mosaic " precepts 
largely — and freedom from intemperance and crime. 

To Unitarians the reformed Jews especially are intellectually 
akin by their emphasis upon the unity of God, upon the spirit 
rather than the letter of the Bible, and upon character rather than 
creed, as well as by the rapid progress they are making toward a 
purer and more rational theistic religion. Between many Jews of 
this type and many Unitarians there is warm sympathy. Between 
the " orthodox," or ritualistic, Jews and the Unitarians the resem- 
blance is only superficial, and the agreement as to the one God 
only arithmetical. 

Statistics. — There are reckoned to be about 7,000,000 Jews 
in the world, the largest number in any one country being 
2,552,000 in Russia. They are rapidly increasing in the United 
States from immigration, nearly 125,000 having come between 
1885 and 1889, most of them from Russia and Poland; and there 
are probably in this country over half a million in all. 



QUESTIONS. 

By what different names have the Jews been known ? When did these 
names arise ? What do they mean ? Into what periods is their religious 
history divided? What kind of a religion had they in the first period? 
What is a sacrifice ? Do we make sacrifices now? What is there in com- 
mon between theirs and ours ? Who were the prophets ? Can you name 
any ? What did they teach ? What do you know about the Exile ? What 
changes had come over the re'igion ? What do you call the second period ? 
What were " the Scriptures" to the Jews? Do they believe in the New 
Testament ? Why not ? What other books did the Jews study ? What 
can you tell about the persecutions of them ? Were they just ? Are they 
continued to-day in any form ? What is the third period ? What is its 
characteristic? What do you mean by "rationalism"? Name any dis- 
tinguished Jews of our day. What do you think of the Jews you know? 
How far are Christians to blame for anything that is disagreeable in them ? 



8 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

Is there unity of belief among modern Jews ? Why not ? What is the 
basis of doctrine? How does the Hebrew Bible differ from ours? What 
variation of opinion about it exists among them? As to God, are they 
Unitarian or Trinitarian ? How do they regard Jesus ? Do they expect 
any other Messiah ? What do they think about future destiny ? What is 
their Sabbath V What can you say of their worship ? What festivals do 
they hold? What peculiar views have they as to food? As to burial? 
Marriage ? How are their congregations organized ? What are their 
meeting-houses called ? What part do women take in worship ? 

REFERENCES. 

The best handbook is The History of the Religion of Israel, by Crawford 
H. Toy, Unitarian Sunday-School Society. See also Encyclopaedia Bri- 
tannica, articles "Israel" and "Jews." Stanley's picturesque Lectures on 
the Jewish Church, 3 vols., end at the Christian Era; Milman's History 
of the Jews, 3 vols., brings the story nearly to the present day; J. K. 
Hosmer's The Story of the Jews gives interesting sketches of mediaeval 
and modern Jewish history and biography. For a most graphic epitome 
of mediaeval Judaism and the reform movement, see North American 
Review, vol. cxxv., two articles by Prof. Felix Adler; also, from the Jewish 
point of -view, Outlines of Jewish History, by Lady Magnus. Solomon 
Schindler's Messianic Expectations and Modern Judaism, and Dissolving 
Views in the History of Judaism, are from the extreme "reformed" 
standing-point. 

For the relation between the two religions, see Prof. C. H. Toy's Judaism 
and Christianity : a Sketch of the Progress of Thought from the Old Testa- 
ment to the Newt, 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS, 



9 



Part II. 

THE CHRISTIANS. 

REFERENCES ON THE GENERAL SUBJECT. 

The best mere abstract is J. II. Allen's Outline of Christian History, 
Unitarian Sunday-School Society. The best short history is Prof. G. P. 
Fisher's History of the Christian Church. If but one book can be bought, 
it should be this or the first volume of Prof. Philip Schaff s The Creeds of 
Christendom. The latter contains the " History of Creeds," with a valuable 
comparison of the doctrines of the great branches of the Church; vol. ii. 
contains the " Greek and Latin Creeds," and vol. lii. the "Evangelical 
Creeds." For charming accounts of the rise of the sects which began in 
England, see Green's Short History of the English People , and Brooke 
Herford's Story of Religion in England. The cyclopaedias of McClintock 
and Strong and of Schaff-Herzog , Blunt's Dictionary of Sects, Heresies, 
and Schisms ; Lyman Abbott's Dictionary of Religious Knowledge ; many 
articles in the Encyclopaedia Britannica ; the histories of Neander, Milman, 
Schaff, Gieseler, and Baur, and for doctrine Hagenbach's and Shedd's, — 
are also valuable. See also Dorchester's Christianity in the United States. 
A very valuable bibliography, both on the general subject and on special 
periods and movements, is at the end of Fisher. 

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love 
one to another. — John xiii. 35. 

Name. — The name " Christian " was not used till several 
years after the death of Jesus, and then at Antioch (Acts xi. 26), 
a heathen city, and probably as a nickname. Before that his fol- 
lowers were called "disciples," " brethren," "believers," "saints * 
by themselves, and "Nazarenes" or M Galileans " by others. The 
word " Christian " is derived from the title " Christ," which is a 
Greek translation or equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah, 
or " anointed one," o-iven to Jesus as the true realization of the 
Jewish national expectation of a divinely sent deliverer and 
teacher. 



10 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

History — The history of Christianity properly begins with 
the first preaching of its founder, Jesus, who having been born 
probably about 4 B.C., became known to the public about a.d. 26 
or 27, Rejected by the religious authorities of his nation, he 
soon began to preach in the open air; but after a career the 
length of which is variously estimated from one to three years, he 
was crucified by the Roman authorities at the demand of the 
Jews, probably in March, ad. 30. 

Hardly a score of years had passed when a division took place 
among his followers which it is very important to notice. It was 
the division between ritual and spiritual religion. We have found 
it between the Hebrew priests and prophets, and it runs through 
all Christian history. The first Christians were little more than 
a small Jewish sect, clinging to the laws of Moses and worshipping 
in the Temple. They differed from the other Jews mainly in the 
belief that the Messiah had come and that Jesus was he. The 
persecution which arose after the preaching and death of Stephen 
drove them from Jerusalem, scattered them among the Gentiles, 
and brought them into contact with wider and higher thought. 
A more spiritual Christianity was the fruit of this union ; and it 
embodied itself first in Saul, or Paul, who denied the necessity 
of the observance of the Mosaic Law, — an external matter, 
"dead works," — and based Christianity upon faith, an act of the 
soul. Bitter dissension arose, ending at last in a compromise 
(see Paul's story in Galatians). But the two kinds of religion 
remained, and can be traced down to our own day. Mosaic 
Christianity, or the Christianity of Peter, died away; but its spirit 
passed into the more splendid ritual and priesthood of the Roman 
Catholic Church, whose head is claimed to be Saint Peter. Spirit- 
ual Christianity, or the Christianity of Paul, though it gained 
the victory at first, disappeared under Catholicism during the 
Middle Ages, to emerge in the Protestant Reformation, whose 
motto, "The just shall live by faith," and whose general 
spirit came from the Epistles of Paul. The same fundamental 
difference may be traced between Protestant sects, and between 
parties in those sects, from the Anglican ritualist to the silent 
" Quaker." 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 11 

The first great division in the body of Christianity was the 
secession, or excommunication, of the Eastern Church, in 1051, 
which was due more to national than to doctrinal causes. Then 
Western Christianity divided, in the sixteenth century, into 
Catholic and Protestant. These three great branches must be 
now considered separately. 

Government. — In government, Christians may be divided into 
episcopal, or those under the authority of bishops ; synodical, or 
those controlled by representative bodies ; and congregational, or 
those who own no human power above the individual church, 
or congregation. The first class is by far the most numerous, 
including Roman and Greek Catholics, most Methodists, the 
Episcopalians, and the Moravians. The second class includes 
Lutherans, Presbyterians, Reformed, many Methodists, and smaller 
sects. The third class includes Baptists, Congregationalists, 
Christians, Friends, Adventists, and Unitarians. 

Another division might be made into those who do and those 
who do not believe in one visible church. The first of these 
classes would include the first two of the previous division, the 
second of these would coincide with the third. 

Statistics, — There are in the world about 452,000,000 Chris- 
tians, as against 340,000,000 Buddhists, 201,000,000 Moham- 
medans, 175,000,000 Brahmins, 80,000,000 Confucians, 14,000,000 
Shintos, 7,000,000 Jews, and — if the entire population of the 
globe be reckoned as 1,434,000,000—165,000,000 "heathens." 
Less than one third of humanity is thus Christian. 

Of the 452,000,000 Christians, 210,000,000 are Roman Catholic, 
92,000,000 Greek, and 150,000,000 Protestant. 



Who are entitled to the name " Christian " is a much vexed 
question. Tn popular usage it signifies anything that is good. 
Many sects deny it to all who do not hold their interpretation of 
Christianity. If the question were settled by votes, the Roman 
Catholics would have the plurality; but if it were decided by the 
common meaning: of such adjectives, Christian would mean agree- 
ing with Christ in the main points of his teaching. A Darwinian 
or an Hegelian is not one who believes every word that Darwin 



12 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

or Hegel has said, but one who accepts the main principles of the 
scientist or philosopher, or at least his characteristic principle. 
Unitarians maintain that they are Christians because they believe 
in the main principles of the teaching of Jesus, — as the unity 
and spiritual nature of God, His fatherhood to all men, the duty 
of men to love Him and each other, the sure reward of goodness 
and punishment of wickedness, and the life after death. Whether 
these beliefs were original with him or not, they were by him 
made effectual upon the world, — especially upon those from 
whom we are descended as to religion. Certainly to be a Chris- 
tian does not compel acceptance of what Paul said, or what the 
writer of the Fourth Gospel said, or what any one else said who 
seems to have added to the original utterances of Jesus, or re- 
ported or interpreted them in a way which seems now to have 
been wrong. In a more interior and spiritual sense, to be a 
Christian is to live the life of love which was the characteristic 
of Jesus. This is the definition which he himself is said to have 
given to discipleship. 

QUESTIONS. 

What was the origin of the name "Christian" ? What does it mean V 
What sort of Christians were the first disciples ? Ought we to wish for a 
restoration of " primitive Christianity" ? Who changed this ? What did 
he teach ? What is the fundamental division of religion ? What other 
manifestations of spiritual Christianity besides that of Paul ? What was the 
first great division in the body of Christendom ? How did Western Chris- 
tianity divide? How does this division stand to-day? What was the 
first division of Protestantism ? How is Protestantism commonly divided 
to-day ? What is the meaning of these names ? Under which would 
you put the Presbyterians ? Universalists ? Episcopalians ? Methodists ? 
Friends ? Unitarians ? What are the three sources of authority ? How 
are Christians divided as to government ? How in numbers ? Are Chris- 
tians or heathens the more numerous ? What difference of opinion exists 
as to the meaning of the name Christian ? What should guide us? Are 
Unitarians Christians ? Can one doubt the miraculous birth or resurrection 
and be a Christian ? Why ? What did Jesus say of discipleship to himself ? 
Which is the deeper likeness, that of belief or that of character ? 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 13 

CHAPTER I. 
DOCTRINES HELD BY CHRISTIANS. 

REFERENCES FOR THE DOCTRINES IN GENERAL^ 

The points of agreement and disagreement between the larger divisions 
of Christendom are summed up in Schaff, vol. i, pp. 919-930. For exposi- 
tion at greater length, see Hagenbaeh's History of Doctrines • Shedd's His- 
tory of Christian Doctrine; E. H. Hall's Orthodoxy and Heresy in the 
Christian Church; and articles in McClintock and Strong. Schaff-Herzog, 
Britanniea, and other cyclopaedias. Calvin's Institutes of the Christian 
Religion and the works of the leading theologians of the various sects — 
as Pond, Hovey, Foster, Wesley, etc. — are also useful. For liberal Angli- 
can views, see Haweis's Thoughts for the Times, Stanley's Christian Insti- 
tutions, and Momerie's sermons. For Unitarian opinions, see Hedge's 
Reason in Religion, Clarke's Truths and Errors of Orthodoxy and his Ideas 
of the Apostle Paul, G. E. Ellis's Half-Century of Unitarian Controversy, 
the tracts of the American Unitarian Association, and the published sermons 
of Channing, Dewey, Clarke, Chadwick, Savage, and others. 



1. CREEDS. 



Our little systems have their day; 

They have their day and cease to be ; 

They are but broken lights of thee, 
And thou, O Lord, art more than they. — Tennyson. 

The word " creed " is derived from the Latin credo, "I 
believe, " and is used to designate a formal statement, usually 
authoritative, of belief on religious subjects. All Christian bodies 
have creeds except the Friends, the Unitarians, the Disciples of 
Christ, the " Christians," the Christian Union, and some smaller 
sects. The Methodists have no formal creed, but a virtual one 
in certain standards which are regarded as authoritative. The 
Congregationalists and Baptists, with other congregational bodies, 
hold to the right of each church to formulate its own statement of 
faith. Many Unitarian churches have "covenants/' or other 



14 A STUDY OF TBE SECTS. 

statements of belief and purpose ; but they are often of no prac 
tical use, and are never intended to express exhaustively or to 
limit in any way the belief of the signer. 

THE FIRST CREEDS. 

Nathanael's (John i. 49). — u Rabbi, thou art the Son of 
God; thou art the King of Israel." 

Peter's (Matt. xvi. 16). — " Thou art the Christ, the Son of 
the living God." 

Paul and Silas's (Acts xvi. 31). — " Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' ' 

THE THREE GENERAL CREEDS. 

These are either formally or tacitly acknowledged in the Greek, 
Latin, and Evangelical Protestant Churches. 

I. The Apostles' Creed. — This name came from the legend 
that the creed was composed by the twelve Apostles, each con- 
tributing a clause, or article, beginning with Peter. This was 
believed till two hundred years ago. It is now certain that the 
creed first took shape at the end of the fourth century in the 
Western Church, attained its present form at the end of the fifth 
century, if not later, and was formally adopted in the eighth. 
For an interesting table showing its growth, and also for many 
statements of belief between it and those in the New Testament, 
see Schaff, vol. ii , pp. 11-40. 

" I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and 
earth. 

" And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord, who was 
conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mar\ , suffered 
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; he de- 
scended into hell ; the third day he rose again from the dead ; he 
ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the 
Father Almighty ; from thence he shall come to judge the quick 
and the dead. 

" I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the 
communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of 
the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.*' 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 15 

QUESTIONS. 

Is there any Trinity here ? Any deity of Christ ? Inspiration of the 
Scriptures ? Atonement ? Predestination ? Eternal torment ? How do 
you account for the lack of these important doctrines in so early a creed ? 
What does the word catholic mean ? The resurrection of the body? How 
much of this creed can a Unitarian accept ? 

II. The Nicene Creed. — This is so called from the Council 
of Nicasa, in Asia Minor, by which its first form was adopted as 
a decision against the Arians, 325. The clauses after "I believe 
in the Holy Ghost " were added later, and formally adopted by 
the Council of Chalcedon in 381. The words, "and the Son," 
were illegally added by a Western Council in 580, and became a 
cause of division between the Eastern and Western Churches. The 
circumstances amid which the creed arose naturally led to stress 
on the divinity of Jesus and of the Holy Ghost. It was a Greek, 
or Eastern, as the Apostles* was a Latin, or Western, creed. 

" I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven 
and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. 

" And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, 
begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of 
Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one 
substance with the Father ; by whom all things were made ; who 
for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was 
incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made 
man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he 
suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again, accord- 
ing to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on 
the right hand of the Father ; and he shall come again with glory 
to judge both the quick and the dead ; whose kingdom shall have 
no end. 

u And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, 
who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the 
Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified ; who 
spake by the Prophets. And I believe in one Catholic and 
Apostolic Church ; I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission 
of sins ; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life 
of the world to come. Amen." 



16 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

III. The Athanasian Creed, — This name arose from the 
belief that the creed was composed by Athanasius, the defender of 
the divinity of Christ at the Council of Nicasa, 325. But it is now 
certain that the creed did not appear till the close of the eighth 
century. It was of Latin origin, and is much used in the Roman 
Church. The Church of England ordains its use on thirteen 
festival days in place of the Apostles' Creed; but it is much dis- 
liked. The American Episcopalians omitted it from their Prayer- 
Book ; but it is proposed to restore it for use four times a year. 
It is too long and tedious to give in full, but a few clauses will 
show its tone : — 

" 1. Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary 
that he hold the Catholic Faith : 

" 2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled: 
without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. 

" 3. And the Catholic Faith is this : That we worship one God 
in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity ; 

"4. Neither confounding the Persons : nor dividing the 

Substance. 

. • • • * • 

"15. So the Father is God: the Son is God: and the Holy 

Ghost is God. 

"16. And yet they are not three Gods : but one God. 

"29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation : that 
he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

" 30. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess : that 
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man : 

"31. God, of the Substance of the Father; begotten before 
the worlds: and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in 
the world. 

"32. Perfect God : and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and 
human flesh subsisting. 

" 33. Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead : and 
inferior to the Father as touching his Manhood. 

" 37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man; so God 
and Man is one Christ.' ' 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 17 



REFERENCES. 

The first chapter of Schaff's work states the arguments for creeds. 
For the creeds themselves, see the whole work. A summary of them 
forms the last chapter in Shedd. Good essays in Stanley's Christian In- 
stitutions, chaps. 12 and 14. A little book of fine spirit is Phillips Brooks's 
Toleration. The Unitarian view is given in Dr. Channing's The System of 
Exclusion and Dtnunciation in Religion (American Unitarian Association 
Tract 122 in First Series), and Extracts from a Letter on Creeds, and in 
most statements of Unitarian belief. 



2. THE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY. 

Out from the heart of Nature rolled 
The burdens of the Bible old ; 

The word unto the prophet spoken 

Was writ on tables yet unbroken ; 

The word by seers or sibyls told 

In groves of oak or fanes of gold 

Still floats upon the morning wind, 

Still whispers to the willing mind. — Emerson. 

All Christians rely upon human reason to some extent. But 
the reason finds limits beyond which it cannot go, — subjects upon 
which it is not competent to decide. It must then ask whether 
there is any authority higher than itself which can decide for it, 
and to the decision of which it will bow even when it cannot un- 
derstand that decision, or when it shrinks from it. The Roman 
Catholic and the Evangelical Protestant answer this question in 
the affirmative. The Roman Catholic maintains that God has 
established upon the earth an institution called the Church, whose 
function is to instruct men upon those religious subjects which lie 
beyond their own ken and yet are of vital importance. This 
Church was founded by Jesus Christ, who was God the Son, who 
proved his divine nature and office by his miracles, and who con- 
stantly guides and instructs his Church. Moreover, by this Church 
the revelations made to various men before and at the time of Christ 

2 



18 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

have been gathered, protected, guaranteed, and are interpreted. 
" We indeed devoutly receive the whole Bible as the word of 
God," said Cardinal Newman ; "but we receive it on the author- 
ity of the Church ; and the Church has defined very little as to 
the aspects under which it comes from God and the limits of its 
inspiration. . . . Not the Bible, but the Church, is to him [the 
Catholic] the oracle of revelation. Though the whole Scripture 
were miraculously removed from the world as if it had never 
been, grievous as the calamity would be, he would still have 
enough motives and objects for his faith. Whereas to the 
Protestant the question of Scripture is one of life and death." 

The Reformers swept the authority of the Church entirely out 
of their religious system, and, though after some wavering and 
confusion, established the Bible in its place as the sole " oracle of 
revelation." They were driven, by the necessity of opposing to 
the supernatural Church an authority of equal divineness and 
infallibility, to make the most extreme claims for the inspiration 
of the Bible, even declaiing the Hebrew vowel-points to be of 
divine origin. Luther held views which even now would be called 
lax. Calvin, however, drew the lines closer ; and the Westminster 
Confession asserted that " the whole counsel of God ... is either 
expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary con- 
sequence may be deduced from Scripture : unto which nothing at 
any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit 
or traditions of men." The Bible became to the Puritan his 
guide, not only in religion, but in affairs of State and in the most 
private matters. In place of the Church as interpreter, the Prot- 
estant put the Holy Spirit. Reason might decide upon the cre- 
dentials of the Scriptures, but the appreciation of their inner and 
saving meaning could come only by " the inward illumination of 
the Spirit of God." In the view of Calvinists this illumination 
could come only to the elect, and indeed was one proof of their 
election. 

The Unitarian joins with other Protestants in decisively reject- 
ing the authority of the Church. That Jesus founded any such 
institution as this pretentious ritualistic organization seems too 
absurd to need refutation. Its history is the answer to its claims. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 19 

As to the Bible, Unitarians have varied somewhat in their 
estimate of its authority. The early Protestant view was de- 
termined largely by the accompanying view of the corruption 
and helplessness of human nature, reason included. As this 
false view has retired, the reason has come to the front, and 
claimed greater rights. But the first Unitarians in New England 
were, or thought they were, as firm believers in the authority of 
Scripture as their Trinitarian opponents. Yet, for the most part 
unconsciously, they had. adopted principles of interpretation which 
were at war with the old view. Both these facts are seen in these 
words of Dr. Channing : " Whatever doctrines seem to us to be 
clearly taught in the Scriptures we receive without reserve " 
{Unitarian Christianity)) "All those interpretations of the Gos- 
pel which strike the mind at once as inconsistent with a right- 
eous government of the universe, which require of man what is 
disproportionate to his nature, or which shock any clear conviction 
which our experience has furnished, cannot be viewed with too 
jealous an eye" {Preaching Christ). In the latter passage lie 
the germs of that reliance upon reason and conscience, and that 
freedom from unreasonable and unmoral subjection to mere textual 
authority, which have borne fruit in Parker, Emerson, and the 
majority of the Unitarian teachers of to-day. They recognize the 
inspiration of the Bible, but look upon revelation as progressive, 
according to the increasing capacity of men to receive the truth. 
Many passages in the Bible seem to them of supreme and unsur- 
passed value to the soul. Yet they look upon inspiration as not 
confined to any period, but as acting still, revealing both new 
depths in the old truths and new views of the divine nature and 
action. The sole criterion of truth, when it cannot be fully 
demonstrated by the reason, is satisfaction of the intellectual, 
moral, and spiritual needs of human life. What seems beyond 
the reach of reason and conscience and contrary to the deepest 
instincts of the soul was not intended to be known, or is not 
yet ready for human use. In this belief in the continuance 
of inspiration the Unitarian feels himself justified by the last 
words of Jesus to his disciples : " I have many things to tell you, 
but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of 



20 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

truth is come, he will guide you into all truth. " In reality, 
however, all Protestants qualify Scripture by the use of their 
own reason. It is simply a question of degree and often of 
frankness. 

Moreover, the old Protestant view of the infallibility of Scrip- 
ture is not warranted by Scripture itself. It rose out of the 
exigencies of controversy. A few simple facts, admitted by all, 
are decisive : (1) The Bible never speaks of itself as a whole. 
This is to be expected from the fact that it was a gradual growth, 
an aggregation of books, generally having no relation one with 
another nor even so much as referring to one another. The word 
" Scripture," as used in the New Testament, refers to the Old 
Testament, the New not yet having been collected. The infalli- 
bility of the Bible, therefore, is not and cannot be a doctrine 
asserted in the Bible. (2) Nor do the separate books claim divine 
warrant, with the exception of a few of the prophetical writings 
and some sayings of Paul. The inspiration of Genesis, for in- 
stance, has been thrust upon it; it claims no divine authority 
for itself. (3) Most of the books of the Bible are anonymous. 
The authorship named in their titles is the guess of the trans- 
lators, not the assertion of the writers. (4) We have no guaran- 
tee that the books of the Bible have come down to us unharmed. 
The original manuscripts have all disappeared ; and the oldest 
copy of any part of the New Testament does not date back of 
300. Had God meant us to rely upon words, He would have 
made those words certain beyond doubt. (5) Jesus never wrote 
a word of his Gospel, and made no provision whatever for hav- 
ing it written. That he should have left it to the oral teaching 
of his disciples for a generation, then to be committed to four 
varying accounts, all of uncertain authorship, is inconceivable 
upon the old theory of the value of texts. 

No one who comprehends the real weight of these simple facts, 
which are generally hidden in a cloud of petty arguments, can 
hold to the old theory of the Bible ; yet whoever reads the Bible, 
not in a state of suspended intellectual animation, but with soul 
awake to the light of God on its mountain summits, will see that 
it is indeed "The Book." 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 21 



QUESTIONS. 

How do Christians agree as to the use of reason ? Who acknowledge 
an authority beyond its limits ? What is the Catholic doctrine of authority? 
of the interpretation of Scripture ? How far could the Catholic dispense with 
the Bible ? What was the position of the Reformers toward the Church ? 
toward the Bible? What was Luther's view ? Calvin's ? that of the West- 
minster Confession ? What was the Protestant principle of interpretation ? 
the Calvinist ? 

What does the Unitarian say of the Church ? What view of human 
nature modifies his view of reason? How did the first Unitarians use the 
Bible ? What change has come ? What is the view of inspiration now 
common among Unitarians? What do they say of what lies beyond human 
ken ? What is their sole criterion of truth ? What words of Jesus fore- 
shadow the continuance of inspiration? Was the old Protestant view of 
Scripture warranted by the Bible itself ? How did it arise ? Does the 
Bible ever speak of itself as a whole ? Why V What follows from this 
as to the doctrine of Biblical infallibility ? What do the separate books 
claim for themselves ? What must be said of their authorship ? What 
guarantee have we of their preservation ? What did Jesus write ? Why ? 
Do Unitarians still speak of the Bible as " The Book n ? Why ? Of what 
use is the Bible to you ? What parts do you like most to read ? What has 
been its influence upon the world? 

REFERENCES. 

The Catholic view of authority may be found in Newman's Apologia pro 
mea Vita, which all Protestants should read. The early Protestant position 
is stated in Calvin's Institutes, book i., chaps, vi.-x., and in chapter i. of 
the Westminster Confession. For a striking illustration of the change 
which has come over many of the descendants of the Puritans, see What is 
the Bible ? by Prof. G. T. Ladd. For the Unitarian views, see Dr. Chan- 
ning's sermons on '" Unitarian Christianity," " Preaching Christ, "' and 
''The Church;'* Andrews Xorton's Evidences of the Genuineness of the 
Bible: Theodore Parker's A Discouise of Matters pertaining to Belie/ion, 
books iv. and v. ; J. W. Chadwiek's The Bible of To-day; J. T. Sunder- 
land's What is the Bible? M. J. Savage's Beliefs about the Bible; F. H. 
Hedge's Ways of the Spirit; and James Martineau's Authority in Religion, 
especially book ii , in which the Catholic and Protestant positions are very 
fairly stated. For shorter statements, see American Unitarian Association 
Tracts. Fourth Series, Xos. 69 and 80, and J. F. Clarke's tract among the 
"Miscellaneous." 



22 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 



3. GOD. 

Source divine, and Life of all, 

The Fount of being's wondrous sea! 
Thy depth would every heart appall 

That saw not Love supreme in thee. — Sterling. 

All Christians believe that there is but one God, and that He 
is infinitely powerful, wise, and loving. All Christians except 
Unitarians, Universalists, " Christians,' ' and the " Hicksite " 
Friends, believe also in a Trinity within this unity. The common 
doctrine of the Trinity is thus defined in the Athanasian Creed : 
" We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither 
confoundino* the Persons nor dividing the Substance. For there 
is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of 
the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost is all one : the Glory equal, the Majesty 
co-eternal." 

This doctrine is nowhere distinctly stated in the Bible. The 
word " Trinity " does not occur at all, nor any word corresponding 
to it. This all admit. The texts which have been quoted in 
favor of the docrma from the Old Testament deserve no considera- 
tion whatever. In the New Testament one text has stated it 
(1 John v. 7, 8); but this has long been known to be spurious, 
and is omitted from the Revised Version. The strongest text 
remaining is Matt, xxviii. 19, 20; but as many Trinitarians admit 
(Meyer, McClintock), no equality or divinity or unity of substance 
is here expressed any more than in the common phrase, " Peter 
and James and John." The fact that no distinct and decisive 
proclamation of so new and startling a doctrine is anywhere made 
in the New Testament is conclusive against its truth. The 
Catholic theologians frankly say that the Trinity is one of the 
doctrines which only the Holy Spirit, acting through the Church, 
not the individual's judgment, can find in the Scriptures. 

It was only graduaFy that the doctrine took shape, and probably 
by contact with Greek, and especially Alexandrian, philosophy. 
It is not in the Apostles' Creed. Its strongest support came from 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS, 23 

the growing belief in the deitv of Jesus, which is considered 
under another head. The Greek word trlas, or " triad," which does 
not necessarily involve unity of substance, does not occur till after 
170; and the Latin word trinitas is not found till Tertullian wrote, 
after 200. A strong Unitarian party (that is, asserting the integ- 
rity of the Father's essence or substance) existed in the Church 
till after the Council of Nicaea, in 325, pronounced for the deity 
of Christ. The deity of the Holy Spirit seems never to have 
been very much discussed or very strongly asserted until the 
Athanasian Creed appeared. The Nicene Creed was changed 
without authority in 589, so that the Spirit was said to proceed 
" from the Father and the Son, 1 - — an addition which was one of 
the causes of the secession, or excommunication, of the Greek 
Church. 

The Trinity remained the universal doctrine until the Reforma- 
tion, when it was questioned, among others, by Michael Servetus 
and by Laelius and Faustus Socinus. The tendency among 
modern Trinitarians is to assert the doctrine as a revealed fact, 
without attempt to explain it. Such explanations have often 
brought to light great differences of opinion, amounting in many 
cases to tritheism on the one hand and utter destruction of the 
equality on the other. The modern Unitarians, of course, deny 
the doctrine of the Trinity in any and every sense. 

QUESTIONS. 

On what are all Christians agreed as to God ? "Who do not believe in the 
Trinity V Try to state that doctrine. Where is it stated in the Bible ? 
Where was it ever stated ? What is the strongest text now ? What does 
it really mean ? What do you infer from the lack of clear statement ? 
How did the doctrine arise ? What is the most important element in it V 
How soon do any words alleged to denote it appear ? When was it officially 
adopted ? When was the deity of the Holy Spirit asserted ? What un- 
warranted thing was done ? Who denied the doctrine at the Reformation ? 
What is the tendency of modern Trinitarians ? What do the Unitarians 
think of the doctrine ? May not God act in many ways ? Must we restrict 
them to three ? But do manifestations imply persons ? Do you think the 
doctrine would have any influence on you, if you could believe it ? 

(For references, see under next head.) 



24 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 



4. JESUS. 

O Love ! O Life ! our faith and sight 

Thy presence maketh one ; 
As through transfigured clouds of white 

We trace the noonday sun, — 

So, to our mortal eyes subdued, 

Flesh-veiled, but not concealed, 
We know in thee the fatherhood 

And heart of God revealed. — Whit tier. 

The rank and office of Jesus form the core of Chris tiau 
doctrine. The point of separation between the first Christians 
and Judaism was as to whether he was the Messiah or not ; in the 
belief in his deity centres the whole system of Roman, Greek, 
and Evangelical Protestant doctrine ; and, rightly understood, the 
idea of " God in Christ " is also the heart of the Unitarian faith. 

It is impossible to go into the full discussion of Scriptural texts; 
but a few main points must be briefly stated: (1) The Jews, who 
studied their Bible (Old Testament) with most devoted and minute 
care, never dreamed that the Messiah there predicted was to be 
Jehovah himself. He was either a personification of the righteous 
part of Israel or, later, a prophet or king divinely sent, endowed, 
and guided, but like all other prophets and kings, — like Moses, 
Elijah, and David, — a man. (2) Those who heard Jesus never 
understood him to claim to be God except once (John x. 33), when 
Jesus promptly disclaimed the title in any other sense than as it 
had been given to the ancient Hebrew judges ; that is, as repre- 
sentative of God. No one who understands how holy, inaccessi- 
ble, and separate from humanity the Jews held God to be can fail 
to see. that the claim of Jesus to be identical with Him would have 
roused too great a tumult to have escaped record, and would have 
been made the centre of the accusations against him. The one 
case cited, to any one who understands the nature of the Fourth 
Gospel, is under suspicion. (3) Moreover, it must be remembered 
that Jesus, as a Jew, was brought up Unitarian, and any such 
enormous change in his view of God or of himself must have 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 25 

been made the very heart of his teaching. On the contrary, the 
first three, or Synoptic, Gospels contain not a single clear enuncia- 
tion of this tremendous assumption ; but they do contain sayings 
of Jesus which imply his subordination to God, as Matt. xix. 17, 
xxvi. 39-42, xxvii. 46. There is no reason why he should disclaim 
deity, for without some clear assertion of it by himself no Jew 
would have suspected it. His appearance and life were human ; 
and nothing short of irresistible proof, which is made impossible 
by these naive utterances, can lead us to think he was anything 
else. (4) The Fourth Gospel is evidently not so much a narra- 
tive as a philosophy of Jesus. The Jesus who speaks there is not 
the Jesus of the Synoptics, but a dramatic personification of the 
writer's ideal, — often beautiful and rich in spiritual suggestion, 
but not drawn from life. But even there, while many passages, 
especially those which come from the author himself, as the first 
verses of the first chapter, point to an exaltation of Jesus' nature 
above the human, there is no such equality with the Father as the 
creeds assert, while on every page there are words ascribed to 
Jesus himself which most clearly imply his subordination (v. 19, 
30; vii. 16 ; viii. 28, etc. As for x. 30, see xvii. 21). (5) The 
first preaching after Jesus' death set him forth as a prophet 
(Acts ii. 22, iii. 22, xvii. 31). (6) Paul spiritualized his idea of 
Jesus, as he did every other point in Christian belief, — as bap- 
tism and the resurrection, — and undoubtedly assigned to Jesus a 
supernatural mission and endowment, but never deity. 

In short, the nearer we get to the words of Jesus himself, the 
less we hear of any exaltation of him above the rank of a prophet 
of God. 

It is when Christianity moves away from Judaism, with its utter 
separation of God from man, into the atmosphere of the classic 
world, where the line between gods and men was always vague, 
and where it had seemed easy to deify even the Roman emperors, 
— it is then that Jesus mounts rapidly to Deity. The remnants of 
primitive Christianity, as the Ebionites, retained the original 
belief in Jesus' humanity ; but Greek and Latin Christianity drew 
from Greek and Latin philosophy and theology abundant suste- 
nance for the deification of their Master. First, however, must 



26 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

come a long struggle, which reached its climax in the debate be« 
tween Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria, and Athanasius, a deacon 
in the same city. Arius maintained that Christ was a being above 
humanity, but created by God out of different substance from His 
own. The Semi-Arians held him to be of similar substance, but 
created and subordinate. Athanasius asserted him to be of the 
same substance and equal in rank. The Emperor Constantine 
assembled at Nicaea, in Asia Minor, the first "oecumenical v> (or 
world) council in 325, at which the Athanasian view prevailed ; and 
Arianism, though widely spread, died away. Then followed a long 
controversy over the exact nature of the union between the hu- 
man and the divine. Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, denied the 
humanity of Christ, as Arius had denied his divinity, making the 
divine Reason, or u Logos," take the place of the human spirit. 
The Council of Alexandria (362) decided that the two natures, 
divine and human, co-existed in Christ. Then Nestorius, Bishop 
of Constantinople, denied any closer union than this co-existence, 
and claimed that it happened only after the birth of Christ, so 
that to call Mary " Mother of God " was absurd. The super- 
natural union of the two natures was proclaimed by the first 
Council of Ephesus, in 431. But Eutyches, of Constantinople, 
fell into error on the opposite side from Nestorius, uniting the two 
natures so closely that the human was lost in the divine. The 
Fourth Council, at Chalcedon, decided that the two natures were 
united in one person, without confusion, change, division, or sepa- 
ration, or loss of properties by either; but the Monophysite or 
one-nature party were still active, and were crushed at the Council 
of Constantinople in 553. Then came the question whether there 
were two wills in the two natures, the Monothelite party contend- 
ing for but one ; but the Council of Constantinople in 680 affirmed 
the two wills, the divine following the human. The < f Monophy- 
sites " and " Nestorians w still exist, however, as sects in the 
Eastern Church. 

So trimmed and cut back, the doctrine remained throughout 
the Middle Ages. The great Reformers made no change in it, 
and it passed over into ' Evangelical ' Protestantism. But Michael 
Servetus, in 1531, taught a human Christ , and Laelius and Faustus 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 27 

Socinus (d. 1562 and 1604), founded a large, wealthy, and intel- 
lectual sect in Poland on the doctrine that Christ was a human 
teacher, but deified after death for his holiness, and therefore to 
be worshipped. In England the subordination of Christ was 
made the centre of a separate sect by Lindsey and others, and in 
the United States by Channing and his co-workers. Beginning 
with Arianism, the view of Unitarians has gone on more or less 
frankly to pure humanitarianism. 



The doctrine of the deity of Jesus has been of great service to 
many by bringing to their minds and hearts a God whom they could 
easily conceive and so love. That the infinite and unapproach- 
able Jehovah should have come to this suffering and sinful earth, 
should have taken upon Himself the human form, and submitted 
Himself to human temptation and suffering, touches the heart by 
its apparent love and self-abnegation. The broader truth which 
underlies this we are to see later ; but the love of God is taught to 
many minds more clearly by this one apparently exceptional case 
than by the more diffuse though truer conception which is now 
growing upon the human mind. On the other hand, however, 
it is as certain that the deification of Jesus has thrust the 
one true God into the background, robbed Him of His love and 
compassion, which are transferred to the Christ, made Him an im- 
placable and exacting judge, and narrowed and lowered the whole 
conception of Deity. As the human intellect grew still feebler, 
even Christ was thrust in his turn into the background ; his love 
and compassion were transferred to the Virgin Mary, or to the 
saints, who seemed nearer and more easily apprehensible than 
the superhuman Christ. The alternative is one which often 
meets the student of theology, — between warmth and truth ; be- 
tween adaptability to immediate need, and exact and conscientious 
conception. 

But Unitarians also hold to the incarnation of God in Jesus. 
They differ from Evangelicals in denying that it w r as only in 
him. and that it ceased with him. They believe, and it is the 
very heart of their religion, that God is not only immanent in the 
physical universe, the One Power working by Eternal Law, but 
that he dwells in every human bein^, the giver of all light to the 
mind, all love to the heart, all life to the spirit. The difference 
between men in this respect is one of degree, not of nature. The 
glory of Jesus is not only his superiority in degree, but his clear 
consciousness of his sonship, and his announcement of it to the 
world. " Alone in all history, he estimated the greatness of man. 



28 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

One man was true to what is in you and me. He saw that God 
incarnates Himself in man, and evermore goes forth anew to take 
possession of His world." Hence flows whatever is distinctive in 
Unitarianism, as the doctrines of the dignity of human nature, 
the internal authority, the eternal hope. 

QUESTIONS. 

What place does the belief about Jesus hold in Christianity ? How can 
you illustrate this ? What was the Jewish expectation of the Messiah ? 
What view of Jesus had those who heard him ? Was he ever accused of 
claiming to be God V What was his answer? What else can you say of 
the passage ? What do the Synoptic Gospels say of Jesus ? The Fourth 
Gospel ? The first Christian sermons ? Paul ? When does the doctrine 
of his deity begin to take shape ? Under what influences ? What did the 
remnant of the original Christians hold ? When did the debate reach its 
climax ? Who were the two champions ? Define Arianism, Semi-Arian- 
ism, the Athanasian doctrine. How was the debate settled? What was 
Apollinarianism ? Nestorianism ? Eutychianism ? The Monophysite 
view ? The Monothelite ? How does all this impress you ? 

How did the Reformers stand ? Who first taught a human Christ ? 
What was Socinianism ? Who started modern Unitarianism ? What is 
this now? 

What good has the doctrine of the deity of Christ done ? What harm ? 
What has happened to the worship of God ? To that of Christ ? What are 
the two points between which religious ideas vibrate? What is the Unita- 
rian attitude toward Jesus ? What is the difference between him and other 
men ? How is our belief in the incarnation of God in humanity related to 
our religious beliefs ? What difference has Jesus made to human history ? 
What is he to you now ? Examine your belief frankly. 

REFERENCES. 

The most remarkable book on the Trinitarian side is the late Canon 
Liddon's The Divinity of our Lord, the Bampton Lectures for 1866. The 
history of the doctrine may be found in Hagenbach or Shedd, and from the 
Unitarian side, in Lamson's History of the First Three Centuries, and 
Priestley's History of the Corruptions of Christianity. Liddon was answered 
by " A Clergyman of the Church of England " (who maintained that the doc- 
trine is not to be found in the Bible by the unaided reason, but is taught on 
the authority of the Church) and by Dr. Vance Smith. Singular views of 
the Trinitv maybe found in Stanley's Christian Institutions, and Robertson's 
Sermons, Series III. No 4. The tracts and books of the American Unita- 
rian Association, especially Norton's Statement of Reasons, give Unitarian 






A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 29 

views, often of the old-fashioned textual kind; but broader ground is 
occupied in Hedge's Reason in Religion (pp. 227-247), Channing (pp. 302- 
328, A. U. A. edition), Emerson's Divinity School Address, and best of all, 
Martineau's Authority in Religion, book iv. chap. ii. The Council of Nicaea 
is described most picturesquely in Stanley's History of the Eastern Church. 



5. HUMAN NATURE. 

It is not ours to separate 
The tangled skein of will and fate, 
• • • • * 

And between choice and Providence 
Divide the circle of events 

But He who knows our frame is just, 
Merciful, and compassionate ; 
And full of sweet assurances, 
And hope for all, the language is, 

That He remembereth we are dust! — Whittier. 

All Christians except the Liberals believe that God created 
Adam and Eve in a state of innocence, but needing probation. 
The serpent (by most supposed to be an embodiment of Satan), 
was therefore allowed to tempt them to disobedience. They 
yielded to the temptation, and in consequence of this "fall" sin 
obtained an irresistible power over them. Shame, labor, pain, 
the pangs of childbirth, and death entered into their lives, and 
thev were thrust out of the Garden of Eden in disgrace. These 
consequences of their sin have fallen upon their descendants, 
so that all are helpless in the bonds of inherited corruption. 
All that they do or can do is worthless and even abhorrent in 
the divine eyes, and unless some aid can be secured from a 
source external to themselves, they are doomed to eternal pun- 
ishment. This innate tendency to evil is called "original sin;" 
the helpless state into which man is brought by it, " total deprav- 
ity ; " and the process by which guilt is attributed to him, 
" imputation." 

This view of man rests almost entirely upon the second and 
third chapters of Genesis, and upon the interpretation which Paul 



30 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

gave to them in his Epistle to the Romans, especially v. 12-19. 
Belief in it, therefore, must depend largely upon the opinion held 
of the authority of the Scriptures. But the following points must 
be considered : (1) This view of human nature finds no support 
from the words of Jesus, He never mentions Adam, Eve, or 
Eden, or refers to the story of the Fall in any way. Nor does he 
imply that the souls he addresses are not able to respond. The 
doctrine of total depravity is never referred to in any manner. 
(2) Genesis claims no divine warrant for its statements. They 
are frankly and naively written like any other history. That 
these chapters have been made the basis of a tremendous system 
of theology is not the fault of their authors. (3) No part of the 
Bible has been so squarely contradicted by modern discoveries 
as its opening chapters. If they are simply, as they seem, the 
statement of the belief of their day, or of their writers, this is 
not strange. If any one persists in taking them for a divinely 
inspired statement of infallible truth, he must choose between 
them and the almost universally accepted views of modern men 
of science. That pain and death were in the world before man 
came, being the common heritage of all sentient life ; that man 
was not made directly of the dust of the earth, but, at least 
physically, developed from lower orders of animals; that the 
human race did not spring from a single pair ; that there is no 
trace of a primeval innocence and a subsequent fall, but that all 
signs point to a gradual ascent from a savage condition ; besides 
the minor points that woman was not made from the rib of man, 
and that the serpent never went upright or on legs, — all these 
views steadily gain ground, and relegate the story of Genesis tc 
the realm of poetry, from which indeed it may have first come. 
Add to them the discrepancies between the two stories of the 
Creation (Gen i., ii. 1-3, and ii< 4-25), and the remarkably few 
references to either of them in the rest of the Bible except those 
of Paul, and we have abundant reason for doubt as to the literal 
accuracy of this account of the origin of man. As to the infer- 
ences of Paul from the original story, our view of them will de- 
pend, first, upon the value we set upon doctrines asserted by a 
follower which the Master did not teach, — a follower, too, who 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 31 

had never seen him ; secondly, upon our idea of Paul's purpose in 
these words, — whether he meant to speak dogmatically and with 
authority, or whether he was speaking rhetorically, in the en- 
thusiasm of his gratitude to Jesus. The Epistles were letters, and 
their style is not formal or exact, or even always correct. They 
were evidently not meant as doctrinal treatises (see Matthew 
Arnold's "St. Paul and Protestantism"). Yet it is on Paul's 
letters, not on the Gospels, that the popular view of human nature 
is based. 



The doctrine of man's nature was worked out by the practical 
Western or Latin part of the early Church, as the doctrine of 
Christ's nature was by the speculative Eastern or Greek part. 
The general belief at first was in the inherited or Adamic cor- 
ruption (not guilt) of man, and his ability to co-operate with the 
Holy Spirit in regeneration. Pelagius, a British monk, precipi- 
tated discussion by asserting, about 405, that man inherited noth- 
ing from Adam, neither original guilt, which was impossible, nor 
innate corruption, nor physical consequences, as pain and death, 
which were in the world before Adam. Every man was born free 
and unbiassed. Augustine in 412 maintained that man inherited 
not only inborn corruption, but guilt; that he was helpless, and 
could be saved only by the absolute power of God. This view at 
first gained the complete ascendency, and Pelagianism never had 
any considerable footing, But Augustinianism gradually softened 
into Semi- Pelagianism, which was very much the original doctrine 
of inherited corruption and the power of co-operation. This has 
remained the doctrine of the Roman Church, as fixed by the Coun- 
cil of Trent after the Reformation. This Church, though it has 
not pronounced authoritatively upon this point, holds that right- 
eousness was not a natural quality of man at Creation, but was a 
supernatural addition, lost again at the Fall. Man's corruption is 
therefore a negative thing, — disorder and helplessness from loss 
of a leader, not a positive wilful rebellion. 

" Augustinianism asserts that man is morally dead ; Semi- Pela- 
gianism, that he is morally sick; Pelagianism, that he is morally 
well. 1 ' 

The three views were revived at or after the Reformation. 
Calvin (1536) revived Augustinianism, Socinus (about 1590), 
Pelagianism, and Arminius (1589), Semi-Pelagianism. Calvin 
was followed by most Protestants of his century, — Presbyterians, 



32 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 



Congregationalists, Baptists, etc., — Socinus by the early Unita- 
rians, and Arminius practically by the Church of England (the 
Romanists being already of the same mind), and formally by the 
Methodists in the eighteenth century. Since then Calvinism has 
largely died away and Arminianism now has decidedly the su- 
premacy. Pure Pelagianism is made impossible by the facts of 
habit and heredity. No one would maintain that we come into 
the world without bias or corruption, amounting often to serious 
crippling, if not to helplessness. But that men are guilty of what 
they did not originate and cannot help, and deserve God's wrath 
and extreme penalty, is a doctrine which shows no sign of return. 
That there is original or hereditary misfortune, or moral disease, 
is more clearly seen, but original or hereditary sin is an obsolete 
phrase. That infants are guilty and under divine wrath and 
punishment, as Augus'ine and Calvin taught, is a doctrine that 
no one now can be found to own, scarcely to remember. 



QUESTIONS. 

What is the doctrine of man's nature called ? What is the common belief 
of Christians? What is u original sin" ? "Total depravity" ? •'• Imputa- 
tion " ? What are the Scriptural bases of this view? What was Jesus' 
position ? What is true of the infallibility of Genesis ? What has modern 
science to say of Genesis ? Of pain and death ? Of man's origin ? Of his 
first condition ? Of woman's creation ? Of the serpent ? What differ- 
ences can you find between the two stories of the Creation ? What shall 
we say of doctrines of Paul not given by Jesus ? Of Paul's style ? Of 
his idea of his letters ? Is the popular doctrine based on Jesus or on Paul ? 
Where was the anthropology of the Early Church worked out ? What was 
at first believed ? What did Pelagius teach ? Augustine ? The Semi- 
Pelagians ? How have these been revived in Reformation times ? What 
does the Roman Church teach ? What is the situation now ? What have 
science and philosophy to say upon the question ? Wherein do they agree 
with Calvin ? Wherein do they disagree ? Who believes in the guilt and 
damnation of infants ? Look into your own life. Does it seem to you that 
you have an}' bias toward good or evil ? Whence come your impulses ? Are 
you entirely free to do as you like ? Can you sympathize with Paul in 
Rom. vii. 15-25? Is sin ever the consequence of an irresistible disease? 
How about inebriety ? How much power has heredity ? Habit ? Circum- 
stances ? Are you Arminian, Socinian, or Calvinist ? Do you know any 
thorough Calvinists ? Can one be such and be happy ? 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 83 



REFERENCES. 

For the Catholic view, see Addis and Arnold. For the Calvinistic, 
besides Calvin's Institutes, see Jonathan Edwards's A careful and strict 
Inquiry into the Prevailing Notions of the Freedom of the Will, The 
Great Christian Doctrint of Original Sin Defended, and many of his ser- 
mons, especially Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. For a milder view, 
see the discussion between Channing and Moses Stuart, and Horace Bush- 
nell's Nature and the Supernatural. For the Unitarian view, see Dewey's 
sermons On Human Nature and On Human Life ; Hedge's Reason in 
Religion, book i. chap, vii.; Martineau's A StuJy of Religion, book iii. 
chap. ii. ; M. J, Savage's Belief s about Man ; Human Nature not Ruined 
but Incomplete, by C. C. Everett (American Unitarian Association Tract, 
No. 3, in Fourth Series). 



6. SALVATION. 

Feeble, helpless, how shall I 
Learn to live and learn to die ? 
'Who, God, my guide shall be? 
Who shall lead thy child to thee ? 

Blessed Father, gracious One, 

Thou hast sent thy holy Son. 

He will give the light I need; 

He my trembling steps will lead. — Furness. 

All Christians a^ree that the life and death of Jesus mark the 
chief epoch in the moral history of humanity, and that he has 
done more than any one else to bring about an atonement between 
God and man. Here, however, begin great differences of view, 
in harmony with the various views of human nature. Liberals, 
believing human nature to be essentially sound, though weak and 
stumbling, define atonement according to the original meaning of 
the word, as meaning at-one-ment, or leading the divine and the 
human will to be at one. They make this consist in the action of 
Jesus upon man, not upon God. They believe that God is always 
seeking to enter the world of humanity, — pressing upward through 
humanity to ever higher forms of spiritual life, as through the 

3 



34 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

world of Nature into ever higher forms of physical life. It is the 
blindness, weakness, and selfishness of men that need to be over- 
come ; and this Jesus hac helped men to do by the power of his 
truth and his personality through the natural laws which are 
always at work in the moral and spiritual world. 

Other Christians, including both Catholics and Protestants, con- 
sider the atonement as working upon the wrath or offended justice 
of God. It is He who has been reconciled to man, not man to Him. 
This has been effected by a compact between God the Father and 
God the Son, the latter agreeing to leave his heavenly home 
and bliss, to take upon himself human form and human nature, to 
be tempted, persecuted, and put to death upon the disgraceful 
cross, that so God may be moved to forgive the sins of men ; since 
they, being corrupt, can do nothing to earn that forgiveness for 
themselves. The atonement is thus a supernatural matter, out of 
the range of ordinary moral and spiritual laws, as it is beyond the 
comprehension of human reason. To explain how it satisfies the 
justice of God there have been many theories. The two most 
generally held in modern times are that of the vicarious atone- 
ment, or substitution of Jesus' sufferings for those due from man- 
kind, their sin being imputed to him and his righteousness to them ; 
and the governmental theory, — that a great example was needed to 
show mankind the enormity of its sin, and to vindicate the divine 
justice by a punishment proportionate to the offence. The former 
view was adopted by the Calvinists, the latter by the Arminians. 
It is needless to say that to the Liberal both seem to be incon- 
sistent with any true conception of justice. If man has sinned, it 
is man who must be punished ; and no substitution of the innocent 
for the guilty, and no exhibition of an innocent " example," is jus- 
tifiable. As to the support from Scripture, it may be s:ud in gen- 
eral: (1) That the prophecies in the Old Testament are too 
vague or too contradictory to be made the basis of anv such doc- 
trines. (2) That they find no favor in the words of Jesus. Had 
we only the Gospels, no one would ever have dreamed of such 
theories. (3) That the Epistles were written by men who were 
fresh from Judaism, and unable to break away yet from the Jewish 
idea of sacrifice. The Epistle to the Hebrews shows the process 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 35 

of transition. Jesus is compared to the sacrificial victims on the 
Temple altar. This leads to language which Jesus never ustd, and 
which must be most liberally, not literally, construed. (4) When 
reconciliation between God and man is spoken of, it is almost 
invariably man who is said to have been reconciled to God 
(Rom. xi. 15 ; 2 Cor. v. 18-20 ; Col. i. 21). 

Predestination. — But for whom was the atonement intended? 
The Arminians (including Romanists, Anglicans, Methodists) say 
for all men. It was a "universal atonement." The Calvinists 
say that it was only for the elect. All men are alike guilty and 
helpless; but God chooses to save some and let the rest go on to 
their merited doom. The former act is called " predestination," 
or fixing destiny beforehand ; the latter, " pretention," or passing 
by. To the elect God gives faith and keeps them in holiness, so 
that they can never fall away ("perseverance of the saints"). 
The non-elect, including all the heathen and perhaps many chil- 
dren, strive they never so much, cannot attain to salvation. This 
doctrine is the heart of Calvinism as our Puritan forefathers held 
it, and is still nominally held by the Presbyterians and some 
among the Baptists and the Congregationalists, but is rapidly 
fading away. The Liberal, of course, positively rejects it. That 
there is predestination in this life cannot be denied. What we call 
the "force of circumstances," including the era and place of our 
birth, our surroundings, physical and moral, and the myriad influ- 
ences which play upon us continually and mould us more than our 
own will, is largely but another name for what theology calls the 
sovereignty of God. How deeply this affects our inner life it is 
hard to say ; but that it affects us in most important ways we 
cannot help seeing. The scientific doctrines of heredity and the 
power of environment are but other ways of stating this. The 
predestination of this life troubles the thoughtful mind with an 
unavoidable sense of injustice. The only escape from this is to 
look upon the present life as a stage of probation. When we 
be^in it, we have no character, no merits or demerits, upon which 
divine justice could be exercised. God has a right, therefore, to 
use us for His own ends. But the opportunities and trials of 
this use bring out our latent moral powers, and we may believe 



36 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

that the character thus developed will be regarded in the life to 
come. The common doctrine of predestination, by extending the 
disregard of human character into the eternal future, cuts off 
this refuge of the sense of justice, and prolongs what we can 
understand if it is a temporary arrangement for judicial ends, into 
eternal selfishness and cruelty. All attempts to reconcile this 
doctrine with anything which we can call goodness, and can wor- 
ship as worthy of our adoration, must fail. Its effect upon the 
moral life would be profoundly discouraging, so far as it were 
really believed. 

The Arminian believes that the atonement was for all mankind. 
The human will is free to accept or reject the offer of pardon and 
restoration. This was the message of " free grace " which Metho- 
dism brought to a Calvinistic Protestantism, and is virtually the 
belief of Catholics and Episcopalians. 

Conversion. — The atonement is appropriated by the individ- 
ual through faith, by which great souls have meant a personal 
union with Christ, but which commonly degenerates into assent to 
creeds or ceremonies. To faith the Catholic adds reception of 
the sacraments of the Church, by which grace is conveyed to the 
partaker. ■ By most Protestants this faith is expected to come 
during some sudden and peculiar crisis of religious experience, in 
which the sinner comes " under conviction of sin," realizes that 
he is 'Most," seeks for help, and finds it with joy in a burst of 
" faith in the atoning merits of Jesus." To bring on this crisis, 
" revivals," or times of intense emotional excitement, are stimu- 
lated, during which, under the appeals of fervent preachers and 
the contagion of crowded congregations, people are supposed to 
be especially visited by the Holy Spirit. These " awakenings " 
are not as frequent as they were, and seem better fitted for people 
of crude than for those of developed natures. They fall in with 
the Evangelical view in general, — that the spiritual life proceeds 
by miracles, special interventions of divine power, since human 
nature is of itself helpless in its corruption. The Liberal, how- 
ever, denying this corruption and helplessness, looks rather for 
gradual development than for crises, and relies more upon steady 
culture under constant influences than upon revolutions under sud- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 37 

den attacks from without. In this he is joined by Catholics and 
Episcopalians, and by an increasing number of other Protestants. 

Justification. — The first effect of faith is "justification," by 
which the Catholic means making just, and the " Oithodox" Prot- 
estant reckoning as just. The conditions of justification, accord- 
ing to the Catholic view, are baptism and, at the age of reason, 
faith in God and love of God. By baptism the supernatural gift 
of righteousness, which was lost at the Fall of Adam, is restored 
to the recipient, fed by the other sacraments of the Church — 
especially the Eucharist — and by constant exercise of faith and 
love. The Protestant, however, denies that any rite can be the 
supernatural channel of divine grace, and makes faith alone the 
condition of acceptance with God, and justification a judicial dec- 
laration of mercy, by which the sinner's past is forgiven and 
washed away, and he is accepted for Christ's sake as already 
righteous. 

Sanctification. — This seems to be with the Catholic identical 
with or a continuation of justification. The Protestant, however, 
makes it the process by which the remains of original sin, the 
habits and tendencies inherited from a sinful past, having now 
become involuntarv and as it were external to the soul, are oradu- 
ally eradicated. If the sinful soul be considered diseased, con- 
version is the crisis, justification the doctor's verdict that he has 
passed the crisis favorably, and sanetifica'ion the gradual convales- 
cence under careful nursing and (says the Arminian) the recupera- 
tive power of his own system. The Calvinist, as we have seen, 
holds that the " elect" are kept from backsliding by divine power. 
The Methodist believes that it is possible for the soul to attain 
such purity of motive that however the old Adam may yet hover 
about the outside of one's life, one may be " perfect " in spirit. 
There has been in both these cases a danger of underrating the 
value of moral laws to those who are saved by faith, — a danger 
called " Antinomianism," by which some have been led into what 
mankind in general have considered and punished as ordinary 
wickedness. 

Among Liberal Christians the terms "justification " and " sanc- 
tification," with many others, have passed out of use with the 



38 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

theology from which they sprang. All the truth which they 
covered is now included in the thought of that divine education 
which is constantly going on in the earnest soul through the vari- 
ous experiences of life. The care of God for the soul is seen by 
the Liberal, not merely in those influences which are called reli- 
gious, or in those times and places which are considered sacred, 
but in every joy or sorrow, success or defeat, by which the mind 
is enlightened, the sympathies broadened, the faith of the soul 
awakened and trained, and the beauty of holiness made manifest. 
This may come sometimes in shocks which open the eyes suddenly, 
but generally through the experiences of every day. 

QUESTIONS. 

Upon what do all Christians agree as to the effect of Jesus' life and death 
upon human welfare ? What difference is there between the Liberal and 
other views of the atonement ? Which needs to be reconciled, God or man? 
What is the " Orthodox " theory of the atonement ? What two explanations 
of the mode are given ? What parties hold these? What does the Liberal 
answer to them ? What can be said of the Old Testament texts cited to 
support them ? What does Jesus say about them ? How can you explain 
the strange language of the Epistles in many cases ? Who is reconciled, 
according to the New Testament ? 

What difference of view exists as to the extent of the atonement ? What 
is election ? predestination ? pretention ? perseverance of the saints ? 
What becomes of the heathen? of infants? Who still hold this view? 
Is there any predestination ? What is the scientific principle of heredity? 
of environment ? How does this differ from the theological doctrine of 
predestination ? What is the Arminian belief ? 

How does man avail himself of the atonement ? What difference exists 
between the Catholics and the Protestants as to this? What is the Protes- 
tant theory of conversion ? What is a revival ? From what deeper theory 
of " Orthodoxy " does its idea of conversion spring? What is the Liberal 
view ? On what grounds is it held ? 

What does justification mean to the Catholic ? to the Protestant? What 
are the conditions in each case ? What is sanctification ? What difference 
here between Catholic and Protestant? How far does the Calvinist carry 
sanctification ? the Methodist ? What is the difference between the two 
views ? What is Antinomianism ? What is the Liberal view of salvation 
in general ? What do you think of revivals ? of the conversions which 
you have known ? 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 39 



REFERENCES. 

For Unitarian views, see C. H. Toy's Judaism and Christianity, chap. iv. ; 
F. H. Hedge's Reason in Religion, book ii. chaps, vi. vii. and viii.j Marti- 
neau's The Seat of Authority in Religion, pp. 450 490; E. H. Sears's 
Regeneration; J. F. Clarke's Christian Doctrine of the Forgiveness of Sins; 
American Unitarian Association Tract, Fourth Series, No. 4, The Atonement 
in Connection with the Death of Christ, by F. H. Hedge, D. D., LL. D., also 
Nos. 16 and 18; S. J. Barrows's Doom of the Majority ; Dewey's Works, 
pp. 373-381; J. H.Allen's Ten Discourses on Orthodoxy, chap, v.; J. F. 
Clarke's Manual of Unitarian Belief and Ideas of the Apostle Paul, chaps, 
viii. xiii. xv. xvi. 

The Calvinistic doctrines are given in Charles Hodge's Systematic Theol- 
ogy, and A. A. Hodge's Outlines of Theology ; the Arminian, in Wilbur 
Fisk's The Calvinistic Controversy ; the present Congregationalist, in R. W. 
Dale's The Atonement ; a milder form, in J. McLeod Campbell's The Nature 
vf the Atonement, and Horace Bushnell's Vicarious Sacrifice and Forgive- 
ness and Law; the Catholic, in H. W. Oxenham's The Catholic Doctrine 
of the Atonement. The history of predestination is well condensed in the 
Encyclopaedia Britannica, article, " Predestination." For the doctr'ne, see 
J. B. Mozley's Augustinian Doctrine of Predestination, and J. T. G. Shedd's 
Discourses and Essays. See, also, J. H. Newman's Lectures on the Doctrine 
of Justif cation. 



7. THE FUTURE LIFE. 

I know not where His islands lift 

Their fronded palms in air, 
I onlv know I cannot drift 

Beyond His love and care. — Whittier. 

All Christians, except the few who hold to the annihilation of 
the wicked, believe in the eternal continuance of every human 
life. One of the most striking consequences of Christianity at first 
was the calmness, and even joy, with which its disciples looked 
upon death. The inscriptions in the catacombs bear witness to 
this. But when the Catholic Church began to invoke the terrors 
of the Judgment, to force submission to its demands, and when 
later the Protestants rivalled it in working upon the imagination. 



40 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

a morbid fear of death, such as the heathen world never knew, 
fell upon Christendom. The Catholic Church is able to still this 
fear in those who die under its protection. Orthodox Protes 
tantism cannot always lull the dread which it has roused, and h 
responsible for much needless mental suffering. Unitarians, Uni- 
versalists, and Swedenborgians probably die wuh much more calm- 
ness ; and the same is true of the better class of Spiritualists. 

The reason for this difference is that the Catholic Church is 
able to impress the imagination of its members with the belief 
that it is mightier even than mighty death, and holds the keys of 
heaven and hell. As between the Evangelical and the Liberal 
Proestant, the latter maintains that death is a purely physical 
event, common to all living things, and not a moral crisis. It was 
not a penalty in the beginning, and has no relation to the moral 
condition now. The soul goes on hereafter from the point where it 
was at death. But the common belief among the Orthodox is that 
death was originally the punishment of Adam's sin, and that it 
marks for every man the end of his probation. After it there is 
no hope of essential change. In this they are joined by the 
Roman Catholic and Greek Churches. The Catholic, however, 
holds the doctrine of purgatory, — a region where sins not mortal 
are expiated, or purged away, and penances not finished before 
death are worked out. But those convicted of mortal sins, includ 
ing wilful unbelief, have no chance afrer death. The Reformers 
rejected the doctrine of purgatory ; but there have always been 
a few among Evangelical Protestants — represented now by the 
" Andover School" of the Congregationalists — who have held to 
" probation after death" for those who have had no opportunity of 
hearing the Gospel preached in this world. But the Evangelicals 
are practically united in believing that the destiny of all is fixed 
at death, and that those who have not saving faith in Christ, 
whether they have heard of him or not, including the heathen, are 
doomed to eternal misery. 

The great drama of the future life, in the belief of the early 
Christians, consisted of four acts, — the "second advent" of 
Christ, the millennium, the last judgment, and the eternal 
continuance of the fate then assigned. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 41 

The first Christians believed that Jesus would come again 
before his generation had passed away. (See remarks under 
"Second Adventists.") Less is said of the fate of unbelievers 
than of the joyful union of believers with their returned Master. 
This belief died away with remarkable quietness ; but the expec- 
tation of Christ's sudden return in judgment has at times flamed 
up with great fervor, — as in the year 1000, at the time of the 
Reformation, and in this century among the " Millerites.'' It is 
commonly held among Evangelicals that the second advent can- 
not be foretold with any definiteness, but that it may happen at 
any time. Practically, however, the belief seems dead. 

As to the fate of the soul between death and judgment, little is 
commonly said, and the belief is very vague. Apparently it is 
commonly held that the soul remains with the body in the grave 
in an unconscious state. 

The Christians of the first two or three centuries believed that 
the second coming of Christ would be followed by the resurrection 
of believers, and their happy reign with him upon the earth for 
a thousand years, or millennium (Rev. xx.). This belief faded 
away, but has been revived by a few in the present century, 
largely among the Baptists. 

The last judgment has been in Christian theology a most dread- 
ful event, described with details sometimes grand and picturesque, 
often grotesque. As a means of impressing the imagination of 
the ignorant and superstitious, both Catholic and Protestant, and 
compelling them into the churches, it has stood supreme. The 
heavens rolled aside as curtains ; Christ upon a high throne, no 
longer meek and persuading, but awful and relentless, surrounded 
by the angels and clothed with omnipotence ; the graves opening; 
the sea giving up its dead ; the terrible dividing of saint and sinner: 
the bliss of the one fate, the horror of the other, — these were the 
elements of the " Great Assize." Whatever may have been the 
thought of the more intelligent and spiritual, to the common mind 
and in the common preaching this judgment turned practically 
upon submission to the Church, or belief in the power of Christ 
to save those who trusted in him. Calvinism draws the line 
between the elect and the non-elect, Arminianism between tho^e 



42 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

who accept and those who reject Christ according to the trini- 
tarian conception of him; by all, "good works" not spring- 
ing from faith in Christ are counted as of no value. It is but 
just to add that this whole doctrine, though unchanged in the 
creeds, has undergone an immense softening and disintegrating 
in the preaching of the day. Fear is less often appealed to 
as a motive to faith; and the love of God and of Christ and 
the beauty of holiness are the common grounds for urging 
conversion. 

Universalists commonly believe in a final judgment, at first 
having held that it assigned all men to happiness. Later they 
have maintained a difference in verdict, but a final restoration. 
The New Church holds the beautiful doctrine that the judgment 
proceeds upon natural principles, each soul going, as it were, by 
its own specific gravity to the place, circumstances, and society for 
which it is fit by its actual moral condition. The Unitarian coin- 
cides in this view, holding that judgment is not entirely deferred, 
but is largely immediate, the soul being visited at once with that 
new vision or blindness, new strength or weakness, new sensitive- 
ness or dulness in moral and spiritual things, which are the natural 
and just consequences of righteousness or of sin. But since the 
conventionalities and wrong judgments of this world hide, even 
from the soul itself, its real moral condition, it may well be that 
its emergence into a life which is purely spiritual will be a reve- 
lation to itself, as well as to others, of its actual worth. The old 
picture of the judgment is, of course, now rendered absurd by the 
changed idea of the universe, resulting in the disappearance of 
the old conception of heaven as a place over a stationary earth, 
or hell as a place within it. 

The condition of the two classes of saints and sinners after the 
judgment has commonly been described in the terms of the Book 
of Revelation. Heaven is a pi ice of rest and worship, resulting 
in happiness unspeakable, but apparently monotonous and tedious; 
hell is a place of torment, commonly described as inflicted by fire. 
Though the Catholic Church denies that the fl ime is material, it 
has always presented the torment under that figure, and made the 
most of it. The same is true of the Evangelical Protestant. As 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 43 

to the eternity of both conditions, all but Liberals are strongly 
agreed. 

But against nothing in the popular theology have Liberals pro- 
tested more indignantly than against infinite punishment for any- 
thing that can be done by finite man in so short a life as that which 
he spends on the earth. The Universalists led in this protest, 
and Unitarians have followed. An increasing number of Evan- 
gelicals more or less boldly renounce the belief. In the Church 
of England men like Stanley, Robertson, Maurice, Farrar, and 
Kingsley, have done so, claiming that the omission of the Article 
on eternal punishment from the original Forty-Two in compil- 
ing the present Thirty-Xine justifies them. In great numbers of 
pulpits the doctrine is scarcely heard, though it remains in the 
creeds and covenants. The Catholics soften it by assigning to 
infants not baptized only loss of spiritual happiness, leaving them 
natural enjoyment in their own place. The Liberals also deny 
the resurrection of the body, which is the belief of the rest of 
Christendom. The Xew Church maintains that a u spiritual body " 
is within our material body in this life, and is disengaged at death 
to become the tenement and organ of the soul hereafter. The 
Apostles' Creed, however, most widely held of all formularies, 
asserts ' k the resurrection of the body," — a phrase which, how- 
ever it may be explained away, has a very clear meaning. The 
Liberal, however, shrinks from attempting to define the future 
life with much detail. A purely spiritual life is too foreign to our 
imagination, which is used only to material surroundings, to admit 
of much dogmatism. It should be enough to know that wherever 
or amid whatever circumstances the soul may be placed, it is still 
under the care of a just, loving, and almighty God. 

QUESTIONS. 

On what are all Christians agreed as to the future life ? How did the 
early Christians look upon death ? What changed this view ? How do 
the Catholic and the two kinds of Protestants each meet death? Why? 
What difference as to the significance of death is there between the Evan- 
gelical and the Liberal views V With which do the Catholic and Greek 
Churches agree? What is the doctrine of purgatory? of probation after 



44 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

e 

death? What is the common Christian view of the future fate of the 
heathen ? What did the first Christians believe as to the second coming of 
Christ ? What texts can you remember which support this belief V What 
revivals of it have occurred V What is the common belief now V Do you 
ever hear it spoken of ? What becomes of the soul between death and the 
judgment, according to common belief ? 

What was the early Christian belief as to the millennium? What does 
this word mean ? Does any one hold this belief now ? What are the ele- 
ments of the popular idea of the last judgment ? What great pictures or 
sculptures of it have you seen, or do you know of ? On what does the judg- 
ment practically turn among Catholics ? among Evangelical Protestants ? 
How does Calvinism draw the line ? Arminianism ? What is thought of 
good works ? How has the common preaching on this point changed ? What 
is the Universalist belief ? that of the New Church ? of the Unitarians ? 

What has furnished the common vocabulary for describing the future 
life ? How are the two conditions thought of ? How large a part of Chris- 
tendom believes in eternal punishment ? What is the main Liberal argu- 
ment against it ? Who led the protest against it ? What great men besides 
avowed Liberals have followed them ? How do the Catholics soften this 
doctrine for infants ? How far is this reasonable ? What is the common 
Christian belief as to the resurrection of the body ? the belief of the New 
Church ? of the Apostles' Creed ? What is the general attitude of Unitarians 
toward the details of the hereafter ? 

REFERENCES. 

Alger's A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life, with bibli- 
ography. For Jewish ideas as preparatory to Christian, see C. H. Toy's 
Judaism and Christianity, chap. vii. For the Catholic view, see Addis and 
Arnold. For a recent Calvinistic view, see The Doctrine of Eternal Punish- 
ment, by W. G. T. Shedd. For a Methodist view, Lost Forever, by Prof. 
L. T. Townsend. A collection of opinions by thinkers of all schools on the 
question, "Is Salvation Possible after Death?" has been published by 
T. Whittaker, of New York, under the title, Probation: A Symposium. The 
Andover view is given in the sermons of Newman Smyth, and in Dorner on 
the Future State, with Introduction by Newman Smyth; and the liberal 
Anglican, in Farrar's Eternal Hope. Swedenborg's views are given in his 
Heaven and Hell. For the Unitarian side, see Martineau's Seat of Authority 
in Religion, pp. 546-573, American Unitarian Association Tracts, Fourth 
Series, Nos. 26, 27, 42, 78, and 81; Channing's sermons, " The-Moral Argu- 
ment against Calvinism," "Immortality," and "The Future Life;" Hedge's 
Reason in Religion, book ii. chaps. 6, 9, and 10; S- J. Barrows' s The Doom 
of the Majority of Mankind ; E. H Sears's Foregleams and Foreshadows 
of Immortality. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 45 



8. THE CHURCH AND THE SACRAMENTS. 

One holy Church of God appears 

Through every age and race, 
Un wasted by the lapse of years, 

Unchanged by changing place. 

Her priests are all God's faithful sons, 

To serve the world raised up; 
The pure in heart, her baptized ones ; 

Love, her communion-cup. 

The truth is her prophetic gift, 

The soul, her sacred page ; 
And feet on mercy's errands swift 

Do make her pilgrimage. — Samuel Longfellow. 

The Church. — There is no satisfactory evidence that Jesus 
founded or prepared for an organization to perpetuate his work. 
The few r passages of the Gospels in which the word "church" 
occurs are explainable on other grounds, and some are under suspi- 
cion of being later interpolations. After the death of Jesus there 
is no reference to any such instructions, and the whole matter is 
left in too great doubt to admit of positive assertions on so impor- 
tant a matter, though they are still made by many. The first 
Christian bodies grew up naturally around the Apostles or other 
preachers, and apparently were congregational in government ; but 
the need and the habit of drawing more closely together led to 
organization on the Roman political pattern, and soon the present 
Roman Catholic system can be seen in process of formation. The 
Roman Catholic idea of the Church is that of a visible institution, 
founded by Jesus, placed in care of his Apostles after his death, 
and by them handed down to successors authorized by them to 
rule. It is the representative of God upon earth, the repository 
of His power to save, which He gives through the sacraments 
when duly administered. It alone has the right to interpret the 
revelations made in the Bible, and it alone receives, through its 
infallible head, such new truth as becomes necessary for human 
guidance. 



46 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

The Reformers set aside the idea of a visible Church, the 
High Church Anglicans and Episcopalians alone retaining a more 
or less clear shadow of it. Evangelical Protestants believe that 
the true Church is invisible, being composed of the elect alone, the 
sigms of election beino- clear and satisfying faith and the <rood 
life which flows from faith. u The Church is the society of be- 
lievers in which the word is preached and the sacraments duly 
administered." The visible Church may contain some who are 
not true believers ; but inasmuch as all who are true believers are 
sure to enter the Church which Christ has established, the Evan- 
gelical Protestant commonly holds, with the Westminster Con- 
fession, that " outside of the visible Church there is no ordinary 
possibility of salvation." 

The Unitarian maintains that the visible Church is a voluntary 
association of those who seek religious and moral quickening, and 
who unite upon certain views by which this quickening seems best 
secured. Membership in it does not imply any superiority to those 
out of it, in any sense whatever. It is simply the school or college 
of the moral and spiritual life. But Unitarians believe still more 
in an invisible Church. In the words of Dr. Channing, " There 
is one grand, all-comprehending Church. . . . All Christians and 
myself form one body, one Church, just as far as a common love 
and piety possess our hearts. . . . No man can be excommuni- 
cated from it but by himself, — by the death of goodness in his 
own breast." 

The form of the Church differs among Protestants. Some join 
their congregations into larger bodies, which they call " The 
Church," the general body having control over the single church. 
This control is sometimes exercised by individuals called bishops, 
as in the Episcopal (hence this name) and Methodist Episcopal 
churches, or by representative bodies, as among the Presbyterians 
and Universalists. Others maintain the independence of the 
single congregations, all associations of these being purely volun- 
tary and advisory, as the Congregationalists (Trinitarian and 
Unitarian) and Baptists. 

There is also a difference as to the terms of admission into the 
Protestant churches. Often Unitarians require only signature to a 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 47 

constitution, sometimes to a covenant or statement of faith and pur- 
pose, though baptism is frequent. Most other Protestants require 
baptism, the condition on which this is granted being generally 
the relation of a definite religious change or experience involv- 
ing the profession of a satisfactory faith (Congregationalists, 
Baptists, many Presbyterians, and others), or upon assent 
to a creed or catechism (Episcopalians, many Presbyterians, 
Cniversalists). 

The Clergy. — The idea of the clergy in Protestant churches 
is widely different from that in the Roman and Greek churches. 
In the latter the priests are chosen by their superiors, — the bishops, 
etc., — and are by them enabled to dispense supernatural grace 
through the sacraments. In a certain measure this view as to 
power through the sacraments is held by the High Church Epis- 
copalians and by the Lutherans. But all Calvinistic Protestants 
and their descendants hold that all believers are priests alike, and 
receive grace directly from God, not through sacerdotal agency. 
Their ministers are chosen by the congregations, though under 
certain restrictions where a power is recognized above the con- 
gregation, as by the Presbyterians, and differ from their brethren 
only officially and by natural gifts or special education. This 
distinction is vital, and must be clearly understood. 

The Sacraments. — The Eoman Catholic Church has seven 
sacraments, or channels of divine grace, — baptism, Eucharist, 
confirmation, penance, holy orders, matrimony, and extreme unc- 
tion. Protestants have kept only the first two. The other five 
are considered in the chapter on " The Catholics." There is 
this further and vital distinction between the two parties, — that 
the Catholic considers his sacraments to be in themselves the 
vehicles of grace, whatever the character of the priest may be, so 
long as he is in regular standing in the Church, and whatever 
may be the belief of the recipient ; the Protestant considers bap- 
tism or the communion as simply occasions when Christ comes with 
special power, the effect upon the recipient depending entirely 
upon his own faith, or spiritual condition. The High Church 
Episcopalians and the Lutherans approach the Catholics in giving 
a mystical or magical efficacy to these rites. 



48 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

Baptism. — This rite originated in the warm Oriental coun- 
tries, where cleanliness was especially necessary, and where a new 
ablution was made the symbol of the purity of heart required of 
those who were admitted to religious sects. Whether it was a 
Jewish rite before the time of Christ or not, is uncertain. Its 
first appearance in the Bible is in the account of John the Baptist. 
Although there a?e texts which seem to represent Jesus as enjoin- 
ing baptism, it is remarkable how little he says about it; and 
though he himself submitted to baptism by John, he never bap- 
tized any of his disciples, and there is no proof that all even of 
the Apostles underwent that ceremony. It is impossible for any 
one who understands the true distinction between Christianity 
and Judaism to believe that Jesus meant to make any ceremony 
indispensable to salvation. 

Yet baptism became universal among his successors under the 
form of immersion, was believed to have a supernatural efficacy, 
and by 200 had come to be considered essential to salvation. 
Even infants dying without it were shut out of the kingdom of 
heaven, though this involved no torment, as in the case of adults, 
but only loss of supernatural blessedness. Natural happiness in 
some separate region could still be theirs. At the Reformation, 
the form having changed during the Middle Ages to sprinkling or 
pouring, the Lutherans continued this belief, holding out some 
hope for the children of parents in the Church, but showing little 
mercy to others, though allowing that God's purposes here are in- 
scrutable. The Church of England held substantially this posi- 
tion. The Calvinists, however, denied all supernatural efficacy to 
baptism, and held that only the election of God saves. The rite 
became thus the seal or sign of a salvation already effected, being 
given only to those who could show the faith which election 
involves. The children of the elect who died in infancy, whether 
baptized or not, were considered saved, for "the promise is to you 
and to your children." The Baptists, however, denied that infant 
baptism had any meaning whatever, since an infant could not be 
said to have the faith implied in it ; while for adults they restored 
the primitive form of immersion. The Friends abolished the rite 
entirely, as they did all other religious ceremonies. The sects 



A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 49 

which require infant baptism expect that when the children come 
to the age of reason they will become members of the Church by 
profession of their own faith or conversion, — an occasion called 
among Catholics and Episcopalians " confirmation. " Liberals 
(Unitarians and Universalists) look upon baptism as an act of 
public consecration of one's life to God, and upon infant baptism 
as an act of dedication ot the children by their parents to the 
service of God, and of consecration of the parents themselves to 
the religious training of their children. Some make it also the 
occasion of "christening," or giving the "Christian" name. Ko 
efficacy, of course, is attributed to the ceremony except its power 
over the hearts of those concerned in it. 

Communion. — This ceremony is called by the Catholics the 
"Mass" (from the words mlssa est, with which the congregation 
was once dismissed), or the "Eucharist" (from a Greek word, 
which means "giving thanks"), because of the prayer of thanks- 
giving in it; and by Protestants the " Communion " (with each 
other and with Jesus), the "Lord's Supper," and the "Last 
Supper." 

The accounts of the last supper which Jesus ate with his 
Apostles do not seem to imply that he meant to institute a reli- 
gious ceremony, still less a mystical or supernatural rite. It was 
the Passover meal. He knew it was his last ; and with a yearning 
for remembrance among those whom he left behind he asked them 
to recall him whenever they came to the point in that yearly meal 
where the loaf is formally broken and the cup passed. This wish 
was gratified by his disciples after the daily meal which they were 
accustomed to take together — the agape, or "love feast" — 
during the first days of the new religion in Jerusalem. The 
agape was given up early in the second century (for the excesses 
sometimes connected with it, see 1 Cor. xi. 20-22, 27-34); and 
the commemorative part, which had already begun to take on a 
mystical meaning, changed in this direction still more rapidly. 
At the end of the second century non-communicants were sent out 
of the church before the ceremony. Soon it was commonly be- 
lieved that the glorified Christ dwelt in the elements as the Logos 
had once dwelt in the human body. In 831 Paschasius Kadbert, a 

4 



50 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

French abbot, maintained that the bread and wine were actually 
changed into the body and blood of Christ. This change was 
called trat, substantiation, or exchange of substance. The view 
gained ground, and was formally adopted in 1215. 

Protestantism has almost exactly retraced the path of this 
development. The Lutherans went back as far as " consubstan- 
tiation," or the union of Christ's body and blood with the bread 
and wine, the former being received by all who take the latter. 
Calvin maintained only a spiritual presence of Christ, who is 
received by the believer alone. Liberals adopt the purely 
commemorative use, as Zwingli taught, restoring the primitive 
custom. 

The Catholic gives only the bread to the laity, reserving the 
cup for the priest alone. The Baptists of America refuse to 
admit to communion those who have not received baptism by 
immersion. This is called "close communion. " The Orthodox 
Protestants commonly invite to remain only those who are in good 
and regular standing in Evangelical churches. The Unitarians 
invite all to remain who are so minded. The Catholic holds Mass 
several times on Sunday, besides frequent celebrations during the 
week, and masses for the dead by special arrangement. Many 
Episcopal churches have communion every Sunday, sometimes 
twice, and some of them every morning in the week. Most other 
Protestant churches have it on the first Sunday of every month, 
after the morning service. 



QUESTIONS. 

Did Jesus found a church? Did the Apostles? How did the first 
churches grow up? What is the Catholic view of the Church? What is 
its relation to the Bible ? What view did the Reformers take ? What was 
their distinction between the visible and the invisible Church ? What does 
the Unitarian hold as to the visible Church ? as to the invisible ? What 
differences in the organization of churches are there among Protestants ? 
What differences in terms of admission ? 

What is the conception of the clergy in the Roman and Greek Churches ? 
among the Protestants ? What is the Catholic view of the sacraments ? 
the Protestant view ? How did baptism originate ? When do we first find 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 51 

it mentioned in the Bible ? What was the relation of Jesus to it ? Is it 
likely that he considered it essential to salvation ? Why ? What change 
came over it after New Testament times ? What view of infant baptism 
arose ? What is the Lutheran view of baptism V the Calvinistic ? the 
Baptist ? that of the Friends ? What is confirmation ? What is the Liberal 
view of baptism? of infant baptism? 

What various names are given to the communion service ? What was 
probably the meaning of Jesus' words at the Last Supper about "remember- 
ing" him ? How was his wish at first gratified ? What was the difference 
between the agape and the Lord's Supper ? What changes did the com- 
munion service undergo in Catholic history ? What is transubstantiation? 
consubstantiation? What was Calvin's view ? Zwingli's? How does the 
Catholic administer the elements? What is "close communion"? How 
is the invitation commonly given in Orthodox churches ? in Unitarian 
churches ? How often is the Mass celebrated in Catholic churches ? the 
communion in Episcopal churches ? in other churches ? Do you attend 
communion ? Why ? 

REFERENCES. 

The various views of Christians may be found in the works on general 
theology named at the beginning of the chapter. See also Dean Stanley's 
Christian Institutions; Channing's sermon on "The Church;" Theodore 
Parker, Discourse of Matters pertaining to Religion, chap. v. Albert Barnes 
(Presbyterian) opposes Episcopacy in The Apostolic Church; F. D. Maurice 
gives a moderate view of it in The Kingdom of Christ. Hooker's Eccle- 
siastical Polity is a standard on the Anglican side. Newman in. his Apologia 
pro mea Vita tells the story of his change from the Anglican to the Roman 
Church. See also Congregationalism, by H. M. Dexter; Cardinal Wise- 
man's Lectures on the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist (Catholic); 
A. W. Little's Reasons for being a Churchman (High Church Episcopal); 
J. W. Nevin's The Mystical Presence (Calvinistic); A. N. Arnold's Pre- 
requisites to Communion (Baptist); S. G. Bulfinch's Communion Thoughts 
(Unitarian); Martineau's The Seat of Authority in Religion, pp 127-169, 
513-546. 

William Wall's The History of Infant Baptism is a standard work. 
J. B. Mozley's The Primitive Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration gives 
the Anglican view. Francis Wayland, Principles and Practice of Baptist 
Churches; Leonard Woods (Congregationalist), Lectures on Infant Baptism. 
Ses also Smith's Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, article " Baptism." 



52 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

CHAPTER II- 
THE ROMAN CATHOLICS, 

There is one body, and one Spirit, . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism- 
one God and Father of all. — Eph. iv. 4-6. 

Name. — The official name of the organization is " The Roman 
Catholic Church," — Roman, because its centre is at Rome, Italy; 
Catholic (or universal), because it claims jurisdiction over all 
mankind. 

History. — The Roman Catholic Church is in form the Roman 
Empire extended over the world with ecclesiastical instead of 
secular functions. The graded system of officers, the skilfully 
codified law, and the assumption of supreme authority are closely 
imitated from the ancient Roman dominion. The process was 
natural. Whether Peter was ever in Rome, as Catholics claim, 
or not, and whether his primacy among the Apostles was granted 
or not, whoever was the head of the churches in Rome would 
become the head of all the churches of the Empire. The first 
bishops about whom we are certain were men of great force of 
character and executive ability ; and as the emperors grew feebler 
and less respected, the ecclesiastical authorities came to the front. 
The earnestness of Christian zeal and confidence stepped into the 
place of the decaying public spirit and private manhood. The 
transfer of the seat of government to Constantinople, in 330, left 
the Bishop of Rome in still greater prominence. At last, in Leo 
the Great (440-446), the Church came to a full consciousness of 
its opportunity, and shaped its course accordingly. Under 
Gregory the Great (590-604) the Church was roused to a mission- 
ary spirit ; and by 750 all Europe, even to Norway and Iceland, 
was under its teaching. Meantime, by the Seven Great Councils 
(325-787), the doctrines of the Church had been defined. The 
gift of a large territory to the Pope by Pepin, king of the Franks 
(755), laid the foundation of the "temporal power." The 
"Isidorean Decretals," a collection of documents purporting to 
be very ancient, but largely forged, — especially the " Donation 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 53 

of Constantine," by which sovereignty over the West was given to 
the Pope, — strengthened the papal authority over the provincial 
bishops. Corruptions crept in, which were stoutly opposed by 
Gregory VII, (Hildebrand), who closely organized the Church 
throughout. Under Boniface VIII. (1294-1303) the papal power 
was at its height ; but from this time its decline was speedy. 
The resistance of kings, the rising national consciousness, the 
quickening of intellectual life, the revolt of the popular moral sense 
against the corruptions of priest and pope, and the rivalries of 
competing popes, — all combined to check and retard the progress 
of the Church. Councils for internal reform having failed, the 
Reformation began outside. Its progress was stopped and much 
ground won back by the counter- reformation within the Church, 
led by the Jesuits, and formulated by the Council of Trent 
(1545-1563). 

The chief events in the history of the Church since the Council 
of Trent have been the proclamation of the doctrine of the 
"Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary ,; (1854); of the 
4 ' Syllabus of Errors" (1864), in which the Church set itself 
squarely against modern intellectual tendencies; and of the " In- 
fallibility of the Pope " (1870) ; the abolition of the " Temporal 
Power ° in the same year; and the "Old Catholic " movement 
under Hyacinthe, Ddllinger, and Reinkens, — an attempt to bring 
back the Church to the position of the earlier centuries, when 
councils, not Popes, were the source of authority. The attitude of 
the Church is now very different from that which it took in the 
Middle Ages, even in lands where it contains the majority of 
Christians. Its reliance Is, to a larger extent, upon moral and 
spiritual means of influence, its internal condition is purer, and its 
spirit' more earnest ; but its pretensions to universal authority and 
its ambition to realize these remain, of course, unchanged. 

In the United States settlements were made by Catholics in 
Maryland under Lord Baltimore (1634), and in other parts, — as 
Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, and California, — which were 
settled by Catholic nations. The first bishop was appointed in 
1789 at Baltimore. The growth of the Church has been mainly 
from immigration, — as from Ireland, Southern Germany, Italy, 



54 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

and the French part of Canada, Its later career in the United 
States has been marked by its opposition to the public-school 
system and its establishment of parochial schools of its own. 

Doctrines. — The distinctive doctrine of the Roman Catholic 
Church, and one which must be thoroughly understood before its 
history and claims can be comprehended, is that it is the divinely 
established and sustained Church of God upon the earth, and 
His only Church. It was instituted by Jesus Christ in the 
solemn words which made the Apostle Peter its foundation 
rock. Its legitimacy is secured by an unbroken succession of 
Popes. By their infallibility under the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit it is kept from error in the interpretation or unfolding of 
doctrine. It is thus a supernatural institution, and therefore 
cannot submit its teachings to natural reason, or allow its spiritual 
authority to be controlled by any earthly power. It must obey 
God rather than man. 

The Catholic doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope needs to 
be distinctly understood. He is not personally, but officially infal- 
lible ; that is, he is not beyond error in his opinion upon ordinary 
matters, but only when pronouncing judgment upon matters of 
doctrine or morals formally laid before him by the Church. The 
judgment which he then pronounces is final, irrevocable, and 
infallible. This has nothing to do with the Pope's personal char- 
acter, any more than with his personal knoAvledge or mental 
power. The Church claims that no such decision of Pope or 
General Council has ever been revoked. 

As a source of truth, the decisions of the Church must take 
precedence of any private interpretation of Scripture. As the 
Supreme Court is to the Constitution of the United States, so is 
the Church to the Bible. The consequence, the reductio ad 
absardum, of the Protestant principle of private judgment is the 
number of contradictory sects and the variety of individual opin- 
ions in the different commentaries. An infallible Book is of no 
value without an infallible Church to guarantee the correctness of 
its text, the faithfulness of translation, and the truthfulness of 
interpretation. The Church does not encourage the indiscrimi- 
nate reading of the Bible by the uneducated ; but it regards 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 55 

the Bible as the inspired Word of God, of which it, not the 
uneducated reader, is the divinely appointed interpreter. 

The central part of its worship is the Mass. High Mass is sung; 
low Mass is read. There are two essential parts of this service, 
— the change (transubstantiation) of the bread and wine into 
the body and blood of Christ, and the offering or sacrifice of 
them for the sins of the people. The Catholic puts the most 
literal construction upon the words of Jesus, " This is my body; 
this is my blood ,J (Matt. xxvi. 26, 28). He believes that though 
to the senses the elements remain the same, in substance they are 
changed into the veritable body and blood of the Lord. These 
are then sacrificed at the altar in perpetual memorial of the ori- 
ginal sacrifice upon the cross. The bread, which is baked in the 
form of little round cakes, or wafers, is after consecration dis- 
tributed to the communicants. The wine, however, is drunk only 
by the priest. The reasons for this are, first, that the Church 
teaches that " Christ is contained whole and entire under each 
species " (see 1 Cor. xi. 27, — the word " or " in Revised Version) ; 
secondly, practical considerations, — as the quantity of wine that 
would be needed, the undesirability of many drinking from o;:.e 
cup, and the danger of dropping or spilling. 

Admission into the Catholic Church is by baptism in the name 
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Inasmuch as all 
men inherit the taint of sin from Adam, and are born enemies of 
God, a new birth, or regeneration, is necessary. Even infants 
who are unbaptized, though they do not go to torments, fall short 
of the perfect happiness of the saved. If any man be " heartily 
sorry for his sins, and loves God with his whole heart, and de- 
sires to comply with all the divine ordinances," the pouring of 
water upon him becomes the vehicle of supernatural grace, 
washing away original sin, and begetting a new and spiritual 
life. This life is constantly fed by reception of the Lord's body 
in the Holy Communion, and thus is prepared for the heavenly 
mansions. 

The Holy Communion and Baptism are called " sacraments." 
A sacrament is the visible sign of invisible £race. There are 
seven in all in this church, the remaining five being Confirmation, 



56 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

by which baptized persons of ripe years are confirmed, or strength- 
ened in soul by the reception of fresh supplies of divine grace ; 
Penance, or absolution for sins by the priest; Extreme Unction, 
the anointing of the sick with holy oil, usually when they are 
expected to die ; Orders, for priests and other ecclesiastics ; and 
Matrimony, by which special grace is given that the wedded 
couple may live together in love and harmony. 

Some other peculiarities of worship should be noticed. The 
Latin language only is used by the priests in the Mass and in the 
administration of the sacraments, because this was the common 
language when the Church was established ; because a common 
language is still needed by a church which extends over the 
world; because she wishes her liturgy to be always and every- 
where the same, safe from the changes which come to all living 
languages; and because the worship, being addressed to God, not 
to men, may as well be in Latin as in any other language. The 
congregation follows the worship by means of a translation. 
The lighted candles upon the altar commemorate the time when 
the Christians worshipped in the dark catacombs, and are symbols 
of him who is the li<xht of the world, of our li^ht which should 
shine before men, and of spiritual joy. Incense is an emblem of 
prayer, ascending like smoke from hearts burning with love. The 
flowers are meant to adorn the place where God comes to dwell. 
The vestments of the priest are signs of his sacred and peculiar 
office, and are intended to be beyond the influence of changing 
fashion. 

Besides conducting public worship, the priest deals with his 
people individually by the confessional. The Catholic Church 
claims that power was given to it to forgive sins (Matt. xvi. 18, 19 ; 
John xx. 21-23). To receive this forgiveness, the sinner must 
not only repent, but if possible confess his sins to the priest, prom- 
ise amendment and restitution, and submit to whatever penance 
may be imposed upon him. It is claimed that in this way control 
or influence over people is secured better than in any other way, 
and for better results. It is in the power of the Church also to 
give indulgence. This word is used by the Church in its original 
sense of gentleness or mercy, not in its present sense of condoning 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 57 

weakness. It is not permission, but remission. The consequences 
of any sinful act are three, — the stain of guilt upon the soul, 
eternal punishment (if the sin be mortal), and the temporal conse- 
quences which may follow either in this life or in purgatory. The 
first two are washed away by baptism or absolution. It is the 
temporal punishment only that is remitted in an " indulgence.' , 
The merits of the innocent Christ, and those of the saints and 
martyrs whose sufferings were greater than their sins required, 
constitute a " treasury " upon which the Church can draw in 
behalf of sinners who are truly repentant. On condition of goc*l 
deeds to be done by them, — as almsgiving, pilgrimages, etc., — 
a remission of temporal suffering is assured. If time is named, 
as a "forty-days indulgence," it means so much remission as 
would have been secured by forty days of penance under the old 
laws of the Church. The system is evidently easy to abuse, as to 
misunderstand ; but the doctrine of the Church that an indulgence 
is useless without sincere repentance and amendment must be 
carefully separated from the misinterpretations and misuse of its 
officers. 

Besides the worship of God, the Catholic Church teaches the 
invocation of saints, including the Virgin Mary, as intercessors 
with God. As the Protestant asks his friends or his minister to 
pray for him, so the Catholic asks his more powerful friends in 
heaven to pray for him. The Church encourages also the use of 
images, especially of the crucifix, as aids to the imagination in 
devotion, since they make the object of worship more real, as a 
photograph makes our distant friends. But it does not allow 
worship of the image itself. 

It holds also to an intermediate state between hell and heaven, 
called purgatory, or the place where lesser sins can be expiated, 
or sins not fully punished here may receive the remainder of the 
penalty due them (1 Cor. iii. 13-15). Those who die in grave 
unpardoned sins go into eternal and irremediable torment ? but 
those who are in purgatory may be prayed for, and so helped. 
For the Church holds that prayers for friends in purgatory are as 
efficacious as prayers for friends in distant lands, or in peril or sin 
on the earth. 



58 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

The Catholic Church admits no divorce from marriage (Matt, 
xix. 3-9). It allows separation, but no re-marriage. It praises 
celibacy as superior to the wedded life (Matt xix. 12 ; 1 Cor. vii. 
32, 33), and as following the example of Jesus and all the Apostles 
except Peter, who, it claims, gave up his wife when he was called 
(Matt. xix. 27). It demands celibacy of its clergy, because of 
the sacredness of their office and their greater ability to concen- 
trate themselves upon their work. It regards the married state as 
a holy sacrament instituted by Christ for those who have not been 
called to a higher state. 

On many points the Catholic Church holds the same belief as 
the " Evangelical " Protestant churches ; namely, the inspiration 
of the Bible, the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the sin of all men in 
Adam and their merited eternal punishment, their redemption by 
the suffering and death of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, 
and the everlasting happiness of the saved. An important differ- 
ence, however, arises between the two bodies as to justification, — 
the Protestant making faith alone the ground of acceptance with 
God, the Catholic requiring both faith and the reception of the 
sacraments. Infants are justified by baptism, which conveys to 
them sanctifying grace, and restores to them the righteousness lost 
at the Fall. On coming to the use of reason, those who have been 
baptized in infancy must have faith in God and love to God. 

Government. — The head of the Church is the Pope, — 
" vicar of Christ, head of the bishops, and supreme governor of 
the whole Catholic Church, of whom the whole world is the terri- 
tory, or diocese." He is also patriarch of the West and bishop of 
Rome and its district, and was temporal ruler over the " Pontifical 
States" till these were absorbed in the Kingdom of Italy. He is 
absolute in power and infallible as above defined. He is elected 
for life by the cardinals, of whom there are seventy-four, who 
were originally occupants of parishes in Rome, but have now 
larger powers and often distant residences. The government of 
the Church is carried on by a number of councils, or ministries, 
called " congregations/* each presided over by a cardinal, com- 
posed of distinguished ecclesiastics, and caring for some depart- 
ment, — as Inquisition, Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda) % 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 59 

Bishops, etc. Out in the world the work is presided over hy arch- 
bishops and bishops, who receive power from the Pope over 
special districts, or dioceses, and have under them priests, who 
come into direct contact with the people in administering sacra- 
ments and doing parochial work There are various other offices, 
not necessary to describe. 

Statistics. — The number of Catholics in the world is difficult 
to determine, s'.nce the Church publishes no official list. Tolerably 
trustworthy authorities give over 210,000,000, of whom 154,000,000 
are in Europe. There are 74 cardinals, 920 bishops and arch- 
bishops, 165 vicars, etc. 

In the United States there are (1890) one cardinal, 14 arch- 
bishops, 74 bishops, 8,463 priests, and adherents estimated between 
eight and thirteen millions, probably about ten millions There 
are 102 colleges, 635 academies, and 35 theological seminaries. 



The Roman Catholic stands at the opposite extreme of the line 
of Christian bodies from the Unitarian, representing the most 
complete submission to authority as opposed to reliance upon the 
inner voice and light of reason and conscience, and close and 
complete organization as opposed to individualism and voluntary 
association. It is a fair question whether there is any halting- 
ground between the two. The Catholic seems to be right in 
claiming that an infallible Book without an infallible Interpreter 
cannot be a ground of certitude in religion, and that the number 
of Protestant sects proves this. The Evangelical Protestant posi- 
tion is a mixture of authority and reason in varying and uncer- 
tain proportions, and without the strength of either. The same 
is true of its varying forms of church government. 

Yet, though at the opposite extreme as to the grounds of belief, 
the Catholic often approaches the Unitarian in single points of 
belief, and seems really broader than the Evangelical Protestant. 
He is freer than the latter in his handling of Scripture, feeling 
secure from serious error under the control of the Church; gives 
more credit to the every-day virtues of mankind, — as honesty, 
purity, and charity, — sneering less at "mere morality;" and is 
more generous and kindly in his view of the future life so far as 
purnatorv is concerned. Even his doctrine of the infallibility 
of the Pope hints of the ever-present Spirit, whose revelations 



60 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 



did not cease eighteen centuries a<*o. The Catholic Church 
deserves also great credit for its principle of the equality of all 
men before God, building its costly churches among the poor as 
well as among the rich, and making the two classes equal in the 
house of worship Its confessional, though open to terrible abuse, 
has done immense good in controlling the lives of many, espe- 
cially of the young women in large cities, who often have no other 
guidance. 

In a wider, historical way the civilized world owes a great debt 
to the Roman Church. During the chaos which followed the 
overthrow of the Roman Empire by the Northern barbarians, the 
Church was the only power which was respected. It conquered 
the conquerors, and mollified to some degree their rough manners. 
It still has a hold upon classes among us which no other religious 
body seems able to reach. It became the refuge of men of letters, 
and the guardian of manuscripts. It encouraged art and music. 
Within itself rank counted for little or nothing, and the h'ghest 
offices were open to men of humblest birth who had the ability to 
reach and fill them. 

Yet it must be admitted that the fundamental principle of the 
Catholic Church, that it claims an authority in religious matters 
which nothing else on earth can have, directly antagonizes the 
fundamental principle of modern life, that truth comes through 
the individual reason, not through institutions. Such power 
as the Catholic Church claims might be confined only to spirit- 
ual matters, and be used only persuasively; but history has 
shown that supposed infallibility, whether in Catholic or Protes- 
tant, whether in sacred or secular affairs, is too great a temptation 
for human nature to bear. Both the political power which is free 
from responsibility to the people and the intellectual power that 
is free from open discussion have proved insufferable tyrannies 
and bars to progress. The divine right of kings is gone; the 
divine right of churches must go. The latter already denies the 
free use of reason, and given power to enforce its claims, may 
easily menace civil and religious liberty in the future as it has in 
the past. That the Catholic Church is thoroughly sincere and 
earnest in its own belief makes it all the more formidable. 



QUESTIONS 

What is the official name of those who are commonly called the Catholics, 
and what does it mean ? What is the relation of the Roman Church to the 
Roman Empire ? Describe the process of replacement. When and by whom 
was its opportunity made clear? 'Who was the great missionary Pope? 
How were the doctrines first defined? What is meant by the " temporal 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS, 61 

power." and how did it begin? What were the '"Forged Decretal- 
Who was the greatest reforming and organizing Pope V When was the 
power of the Church at its height ? What causes led to its downfall ? 
What was the Reformation ? the counter-reformation ? What great council 
fixed the modern policy of the Church ? What are the chief events a 
then ? What gives strength to the Catholics h- 

Name the distinctive doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. What is 
meant by the "infallibility" of the Pope ? What is the relation of Church 
authority to the Scriptures? What is the Mass? What does "transub- 
stantiation " mean ? What constitutes admission U to the Church ? What 
- baptism imply ? What is a sacrament, and how many are there ? 
Why is Latin used '? What do the candles, incense, vestments mean ? 
What is the doctrine of the confessional ? Do you think it would be useful 
:u ? What is an ''indulgence '" ? What wrong ideas of this are among 
How do you think it could be abused ? What is the " invo- 
cation of saints,'' and what can be said for it ? What against it ? What is 
"porgatc Compare this view with that of many Protestant sects. 

What is the Catholic doctrine of divorce? of celiba. 

Who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church ? What other offices 
does he hold ? Who are the cardinals ? What are the '* congregations " ? 
Name some of their departments. What other officers are there ? How 
many Catholics are there in the world ? in this country ? 

What are the main points of difference between Catholics and Unitarians ? 
In what points do they approach each other ? Wherein are they more 
liberal than " Evangelical *' Protestants ? For what do they deserve credit ? 
Why should they be opposed ? Do you think a Catholic can be a patriot ? 
a scientist 1 What is his position toward our public schools? Hew does 

follow from his doctrine ? Would he persecute to-day. if he had p : - 
as he did in the Middle Ages What has America to fear from him? 
What do you think of the Catholics you know ': What is your chief objec- 
tion to them ? What good can :hat they do here ? Do you think 
they are sincere ? How ought we to act toward them *? 

REFERENCES. 

The best popular work on the Catholic side, for both doctrine and his- 
tory, is Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, which is semi-official. 
La Harbe's Catechism contains a short summary. Longer histories are 
Alzog's, in three volumes, and DoNrager's, in four. By Protestant authors, 
an admirable epitome ia J. H. Allen's Outline of Christian History; good is 
J. H. Blunt's Church History, 2 small volumes. On the whole, the 

best history for common reading is Fisher's. Besides the general histories 
of Xeander, Gieseler, Hagenbach, see Milman's Latin Christianity, 8 vols 



62 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

(to about 1450); Ranke's History of the Popes in the Sixteenth and Seven- 
teenth Centuries; and Macaulay's famous review of it in his Essays; Bryce's 
Holy Roman Empire; Lea's Sacerdotal Celibacy and Inquisition ; Lecky's 
History of European Morals ; Encyclopaedia Britannica, articles M Popedom," 
"Roman Catholic Church" (the latter valuable as to government), and 
" Jesuits." As to the Church in America, see histories by J„ G, Shea, Pres- 
cott's Mexico, Parkman's Jesuits in North America, and many references 
on special periods and phases at the close of Fisher. 

For the best popular compend of Catholic doctrine, see Cardinal Gibbons's 
The Faith of Our Fathers. Newman's Apologia is in every way important, 
but especially as showing the relation, in his mind, between the Churches 
of England and Rome. See, also, Martineau's Authority in Religion, book 
ii. chap. 1. Per contra, see R. F. Littledale's Plain Reasons against joining 
the Church of Rome. The great creeds are given in Schaff, vol. i. 



CHAPTER III 
THE OLD CATHOLICS. 

When Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, for he 
was to be blamed. — Gal. ii. 11. 

The Vatican Council of 1869-70 was a triumph of the 
"Ultramontane," or extreme papal, party in the Roman Catholic 
Church. By the decree of papal infallibility it placed the Pope 
beyond the power of councils, and thus of bishops or national 
churches. Most of the powerful minority of eighty-eight dis- 
sentients and ninety-one non-voters, out of the whole number of 
seven hundred and forty-four, after a long and often bitter struggle, 
accepted the decree. But Dr. Dollinger, of Bonn, Germany, the 
foremost of German Catholic scholars, refused, and with his 
colleague, Professor Friedrich, w r as excommunicated in 1871. In 
September of that year a conference of five hundred delegates 
was held in Munich, and an attempt was made at union with the 
Greek and Russian churches and an " understanding n with the 
Protestant and Episcopal communions. The consecration of Dr. 
Reinkens as bishop by a Dutch bishop gave the advantage of 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS, 63 

"apostolic succession;" the Prussian government legalized the 
body, and for a while it gained rapidly among the cultivated 
people of Germany and Switzerland. In Paris, Pere Hyacintbe 
(Loyson), the famous preacher at Notre Dame, a devout believer 
in the rights of the Gallican Church as against absolute papal 
power, became an ally. The design of the Old Catholics was to 
return to the ancient faith and practice of the Church as laid 
down by the Seven Great Councils, before 787, untainted by 
papal usurpations and later doctrines. This would include the 
supremacy of councils, the equality of laity with the clergy in 
them, the marriage of priests, the use of the vernacular in public 
worship, and the abolition of compulsory fasting and confession. 
More emphasis was also laid upon the authority of the Scriptures. 
But the movement made no impression upon the masses ; was, 
like Protestantism, essentially Teutonic in its range; and was 
bitterly fought by the Catholic Church, whose influence at length 
brought also political pressure to bear upon it. Of late years it 
has made no gains, and is probably declining. 



QUESTIONS. 

What was the occasion of the Old Catholic movement ? What does 
" "Ultramontane '' mean ? Was the council a unit on the doctrine of infalli- 
bility ? What did the heaten party (for example, Dr. Newman) do after the 
decision? Wa* this right? Who were the leaders in the new movement? 
Who was its first bishop ? What was its first condition ? What is its 
condition now, and why ? What are its main doctrines ? Where does it 
stop short of Protestantism ? Ought Unitarians to sympathize with it, and 
how far ? 

REFERENCES. 

See Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Old Catholics; " Schaff, vol. i. pp. 191- 
202: Catholic Reform, by Father Hyacinthe ,• The New Reformation, by 
Theodorus. 

On the Vatican Council, see SchafTs The Vatican Decrees; The 
Pope and the Council, by James (ascribed to Dbllinger and Friedrich); 
Letters from Rome on the Council, by Friedrich and others (from the 
Old Catholic point of view) •, and a recent work by Thomas Mozley. 



64 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 
THE EASTERN CHURCH. 

The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. — Acts xi. 26. 

Name, — The full name is " The Holy Oriental Orthodox 
Catholic Apostolic Church," the emphasis being upon the word 
" Orthodox," as in the name of the u Roman Catholic Church," 
the emphasis is upon " Catholic." 

History, — The Eastern Church holds the birthplace of Chris 
tianity, Jerusalem, and the place where it was christened, Anti- 
och. Its language is largely that which Jesus and the Apostles 
spoke, and the great Councils which first defined the faith of 
Christendom were summoned and controlled by Greek emperors 
and bishops. But after those Councils it became stagnant, and 
except in Russia, has made no advance and no conquest, while it 
contains the lowest types of Christianity to be found, — as the 
Christians of Abyssinia, and even some of the Russian sects. 
With the increasing prominence of Russia, Greece, and the 
Balkan realms, however, the Eastern Church may yet revive and 
spread. 

The Council of Nicsea (325) recognized three Patriarchs, or 
heads of main divisions of the Christian Church, — those of Rome, 
Alexandria, and Antioch. Two more, at Jerusalem and Con- 
stantinople, were afterward added. Differences of language and 
customs, added to distance, naturally separated the eastern part 
of the Roman Empire from the western. Rome addressed itself 
more and more to conquering spiritually the barbarian hordes who 
had conquered her materially, and perpetuated in the Papacy the 
practical and legal ability which had created and regulated the 
Empire. In the East, not Roman law but Greek philosophy was 
the heritage of the Church, and even the common people specu- 
lated on those questions of the divine nature which were settled 
in the first great (Ecumenical Councils. While the Latin Church 
became more united, the Greek became more divided. At the 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 65 

Third Council (Ephesus, 431) Xestorius, bishop of Constantinople, 
was condemned for bavins: assigned two natures to Christ in such 
separation that Mary could not be called the " Mother of God." 
The large secession of the NesLorians ensued. At the Fourth 
Council (Chalcedon, 451) the doctrine of two natures in Christ, 
united without change or confusion, gave rise to the Monoplnjsite 
or one-nature schism, which includes to-day the Jacobites of Sy- 
ria, the Copts of Egypt, and the Abyssinians. At the Sixth Coun- 
cil (Constantinople, 680-681) the doctrine of two wills, divine and 
human, in Christ, was proclaimed, and the Maronites seceded, but 
in 1182 returned to Roman rule, retaining some pecuharities in 
their ritual. 

More important was the separation from the Latin Church. 
In 589, at a Council in Toledo, Spain, not oecumenical and there- 
fore not authoritative, there was added to the clause in the Xicene 
Creed, " I believe in the Holy Ghost, who proceedeth from the 
Father," the words "and the Son." Against this the Eastern 
churches protested as a heresy, contrary to the true doctrine of 
the Trinity. To theological dissension abundant political jealousy 
was added, and at last, in 1054, Leo IX. excommunicated the 
Eastern Church. The treatment of Eastern Christians by the 
crusaders from the West, culminating in the sack of Constanti- 
nople by them, 1204, intensified the quarrel, which, in spite of 
many attempts, has never been closed. 

Meantime the Mohammedans swept over the East, but were 
not converted to Christianity, as the northern barbarians were by 
the Roman Church. In the period including the capture of 
Jerusalem in 637 and that of Constantinople in 1453 all the old 
domain of the Eastern Church fell into their hands. Its or^ani- 
zation was kept up, but its life largely departed. But new 
domains had been added by missionary zeal, especially in Russia. 
which, accepting Christianity in 992, now contains two thirds of 
all Eastern Christians. 

Doctrine. — The Eastern Church, not being a formal unit, has 
no authoritative creed. It holds, however, to the creeds laid 
down by the first seven (Ecumenical Councils, especially the one 
commonly known to us as the Nicene. In 1643 and 1672 creeds 

5 



66 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

were made by the Synod of Jerusalem which are now virtually 
agreed upon. Their substance is given by the Encyclopaedia 
Britannica, article " Greek Church," as follows, the small capitals 
marking differences from the Roman Catholics, the italics those 
from the Protestants : — 

" Christianity is a divine revelation communicated to mankind 
through Christ; its saving truths are to be learned from the 
Bible and tradition, the former having been written, and the latter 
maintained uncorrupted, through the influence of the Holy Spirit ; 
the interpretation of the Bible belongs to the Church, which is taught 
by the Holy Spirit, but every believer may read the Scriptures. 

" According to the Christian revelation, God is a Trinity ; that 
is, the Divine essence exists in Three Persons, perfectly equal in 
nature and dignity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; 
the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father only. Be- 
sides the Triune God there is no other object of divine worship, 
but homage may be paid to the Virgin Mary, and reverence to the 
saints and to their pictures and relics. 

" Man is born with a corrupt bias, which was not his at crea- 
tion ; the first man, when created, possessed immortality, per- 
fect WISDOM, AND A WILL REGULATED BY REASON. Through 

the first sin Adam and his posterity lost immortality, and his 
will received A bias toward evil. In this natural state 
man, who even before he actually sins is a sinner before God by 
original or inherited sin, commits manifold actual transgressions ; 
but he is not absolutely without power of will toward good, and is 
not always doing evil. 

" Christ ... by his vicarious death has made satisfaction to 
God for the world's sins, and this satisfaction was perfectly 
commensurate with the sins of the world. . . . This 
divine help is offered to all men without distinction, and may be 
rejected. In order to attain to salvation, man is justified, and 
when so justified can do no more than the commands of 
God. He may fall from a state of grace through mortal sin. 

" Regeneration is offered by the word of God and in the sacra- 
ments, which under visible signs communicate God's invisible grace 
to Christians when administered cum intentione. There are seven 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 67 

mysteries, or sacraments. Baptism entirely destroys original sin. 
In the Eucharist the true body and blood of Christ are substan- 
tially present ; and the elements are changed into the substance oj 
Christ, whose body and blood are corporeally partaken of by commu- 
nicants. All Christians should receive the bread and the wine. 
The Eucharist is also an expiatory sacrifice. The new birth when 
lost may be restored through repentance, which is not merely 
(1) sincere sorrow, but (2) confession of each individual sin to the 
priest, and (3) the discharge of penances imposed by the priest for the 
removal of the temporal punishment which may have been imposed 
by God and the Church. Penance accompanied by the judicial 
absolution of the priest makes a true sacrament. 

" The Church of Christ is the fellowship of all those who 

ACCEPT AND PROFESS ALL THE ARTICLES OF FAITH TRANS- 
MITTED by the Apostles and approved by General 
Synods. Without this risible Church there is no salvation. It is 
under the abiding influence of the Holy Ghost, and therefore 
cannot err in matters of faith. Specially appointed persons are 
necessary in the service of the Church, and they form, a threefold 
order, distinct jure divino from other Christians, of Bishops, Priests, 
and Deacons. The Four Patriarchs, of equal dignity, 

HAVE THE HIGHEST RANK AMONG THE BISHOPS ; AND THE 

bishops, united in a General Council, represent the Church, and 
infallibly decide, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, all 
matters of faith and ecclesiastical life. . . . Bishops must be un- 
marri-d, and priests and deacons must not contract a 

SECOND MARRIAGE/' 

They must, however, be married at ordination. 

A priest of the Eastern Church is called a "pope," which 
means " papa," and corresponds to the Catholic " father." This 
church has prayers for the dead and a somewhat indefinite belief 
in a purgatory, but rejects the use of unleavened bread in the 
Eucharist ; gives the Eucharist to babes as well as adults ; makes 
the priest and people stand during prayer ; baptizes by immer- 
sion; anoints the sick with oil, but has no "extreme unction,' — 
that is, at death ; abhors the use of images in churches, but per- 
mits fervent homage to pictures ; allows divorce, and follows the 



68 A STUDY OF THE SECTSc 



Mosaic Law in abstaining from things strangled and " unclean " 
meats. 

The liturgies of the Eastern Church are naturally very ancient, 
the most common being that of Saint James. Unlike the Catho- 
lic ritual, the Eastern is commonly in the vernacular, with the 
advantage that where Greek is spoken the New Testament is 
read and understood in the langmao;e in which it was written. The 
services of the Russian Church, especially, are very elaborate, 
and the vestments of its priests gorgeous. 

Government. — The Eastern Church has now four Patriarchs, 

— of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. They 
are supreme in their districts, having metropolitan, or chief, and 
suffragan, or deputy, bishops under them. But their power has 
been much curtailed by the formation of various national churches, 

— as those of Russia, under a Holy Governing Synod appointed 
by the Czar, which has authority over sixty-three divisions called 
Eparchies, each under a bishop; of Roumania, under a metro- 
politan and bishops ; of Greece, under the king as head, with a 
synod like the Russian ; of Servia ; of Montenegro, etc. There 
is no single authority over the whole Church, except a possible 
CEcumenical Council, which has never been summoned since the 
separation from Rome. 

Statistics. — There were in 1890 about 92,000,000 Eastern 
Christians, of whom 76,000,000 are regular adherents of the 
Greek Church, mainly in Russia; 11,000,000 are in Russian 
sects ; while there are 2,300,000 in the Armenian (Monophysite) 
Church, 1,500,000 Jacobites, and 400,000 Nestorians, in virtual 
agreement with the rest, but separate ecclesiastically as they are 
politically. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the name of the Eastern Church? Why is it called also the 
Greek Church ? What advantage has it over the Roman Church in locality ? 
in language of the people ? Has it been progressive V What different work 
have the two churches taken up ? Who are the Nestorians ? the Maronites ? 
When and why did the two churches separate ? What different relations 
had they to the barbarians ? Which have been the more civilized, the 
Greek Christians or the Mohammedans ? 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. b9 

What are the foundations of the belief of the Eastern Church ? What 
does "(Ecumenical" mean? What do you know of the Nicene Creed? 
What is the Eastern doctrine of the Bible ? How does this differ from the 
Protestant ? What is its doctrine of the Trinity ? of total depravity ? of 
the atonemeut ? of regeneration ? of baptism ? of the Eucharist ? of the 
Church ? What is the difference between the Roman Pope and an Eastern 
pope ? What other beliefs of the Eastern Church can } t ou mention ? Com- 
pare the doctrines in general with the Roman and Protestant. What can you 
say of the liturgies ? What is the government ? Who are the patriarchs ? 
Does the Eastern Church seem attractive to you ? Why ? More or less so 
than the Roman ? Which stands nearer to Unitarians ? Which has the 
better future before it ? 

REFERENCES. 

An admirably clear and concise article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 
*' Greek Church." Dean Stanley's picturesque Lectures on the History oj 
the Eastern Church is especially full on the Russian Church, and has a good 
map. Gibbon, chaps, xlvii. iv., as well as all chapters relating to the East- 
ern Empire. Fisher, see Index, " Church, Eastern," and u Greek Church.' 1 
Schaff, vol. i. pp. 43-82, gives an account of the various creeds, and vol. ii. 
pp. 275-445, the creeds themselves. Prof. A. V- G. Allen, in The Continuity 
of Christian Thought, gives a fascinating account of the Greek theology 
and its influence upon modern Christian thought. J. M. Neale, The Holy 
Eastern Church, 5 vols. 



CHAPTER V, 
THE PROTESTANTS. 

That no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident : 
for, The just shall live by faith. — Gal. iii. 11. 

Origin of the Name. — At the second Diet, or congress, of 
the German princes, called by the Emperor Charles V. at Speier 
(Spires), in 1529, a former edict of toleration to the Lutherans 
was rescinded; and the edict of Worms, by which Luther was 
declared an outlaw and his writings were condemned, was pro- 



TO A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

nounced still in force. Against this act the Lutheran princes at 
the Diet made a formal protest : ik In matters which relate to the 
glory of God and to the salvation of our souls, we must all stand 
before God and give account of ourselves to him." Hence the 
name " Protestant," or " protester." It was afterward widened, 
and is so used to-day, to cover all Christians who protest against 
the doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church. 

History. — The Reformation had been long growing, and 
sprang from several roots. First, there was a political restlessness 
under the yoke of what was felt more and more keenly, as the na- 
tions began to form and to become self-conscious, to be a foreign 
tyranny. The Church held one third of the land of Europe, 
immense endowments of cathedrals, monasteries, etc. m r and re- 
ceived enormous incomes from various tithes, fees, etc. These 
were burdens and drains upon the national strength; and the 
kings, nobles, and people became on this account hostile to Rome. 
This explains the protection of the Reformers by many princes. 
Secondly, there was a growing intellectual pressure against the 
narrowness of the Church. The Crusades, which were foreign 
tours of vast multitudes whose minds were broadened and aroused, 
the revival of learning and study of the ancient classics, the 
invention of printing, the discovery of America and of the way 
around the Cape of Good Hope, and the general awakening of the 
human mind — a stretching, as it were, in the broader spaces and 
opportunities of study and commerce — made old ideas and ways 
no longer possible. Thirdly, the moral sense revolted against the 
corruption of the priesthood, which is now acknowledged by both 
sides to have been very great, and which extended often to the 
Popes themselves. Fourthly, the religious instinct rebelled against 
the choking of the way between the soul and God by the " dead 
works," the ritual, and discipline of the Church. A long series 
of protests which had not availed, because u the fulness of time " 
had not come, gave their momentum to the movement under 
Luther. 

Few however, wished or expected to break away from the 
Church. Its right to rule was universally conceded. Reform, not 
revolution, was the aim ; and had the Church been as shrewd 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 71 

before the Reformation as it became after, it might for a long time 
have kept its integrity. But reform within having been defeated, 
the Church swept on to rupture and loss. When the movement 
was over, it was found that the division was essentially one 
of race, — between Teutonic and Latin, between Northern and 
Southern Europe ; and so it still remains. 

The detailed history of this crisis must be studied elsewhere. 
But we must follow Protestantism into its own lamentable, though 
perhaps inevitable, divisions. The first was between Luther and 
Zwingli on the subject of the Eucharist, which broadened into the 
more disastrous one between Lutheran and Calvinist, or, as it was 
called, between "Evangelical" and "Reformed." The Lutheran 
party became stationary and practically national, and so remains. 
It was Calvinism which led Protestantism to its widest and bravest 
conquests in Switzerland, France, Holland, England, and New 
England. The Huguenots, the Puritans, the Covenanters, the 
defenders of Holland against Philip, were all Calvinists. So 
were their descendants, the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, 
Baptists, and some minor sects. The Church of England, though 
influenced by Calvinism, claims now not to be Protestant, or to 
have been "reformed " in the same sense as " the sects," but to 
be the branch in England of the one Catholic, or universal, 
Church, cleansed of the errors which the other branches, the 
Roman and Greek Churches, still hold. The sway of Calvinism 
was first broken by the Friends, with their doctrine of " the inner 
light," but later and more seriously by the Methodists, with their 
denial of predestination. The swiftly moving " Liberal " or ration- 
alistic tendency has taken shape in the Unitarians, and less 
clearly in the Universal ists. As against these " Liberal Protes- 
tants," or " Liberal Christians," the other sects have taken the 
name of " Evangelical," from the Greek word for Gospel (Latin 
evangelium), implying that they alone hold " Gospel truth." The 
"Evangelical Alliance," formed in 1846, excludes Unitarians, 
Universalists, Friends, and the New Church. 

A truer classification of Protestants would be according to the 
source of their beliefs : namely, first, the Church party, which 
looks to the decisions of the visible, organized Church for its 



72 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

authority, including High Church Episcopalians, who thus prop- 
erly belong with the Roman and Greek Churches ; secondly, the 
Scriptural party, which bases its belief directly upon the teachings 
of Scripture, including the sects commonly called Evangelical ; 
and the Rational party, which looks to the individual reason, en- 
lightened from all sides, as sole source of belief, represented by 
the more advanced Unitarians and many Universalists. A large 
part of both these bodies is, however, professedly Scriptural. 
Those of the Friends who have remained true to their primi- 
tive doctrine of the 4t inner light " are virtually rationalistic; so 
is the New Church, though nominally Scriptural. The Scriptu- 
ral party shades off by imperceptible degrees into rationalism, 
and indeed is colored throughout by it. The coming division 
of Christianity is undoubtedly to be into the party of the Church 
and that of the Reason, in which division we see the old one of 
ritual and spiritual religion virtually emerging again. 

Doctrine. — Protestantism, as has been said, is a revival of the 
Christianity of Paul as against the Christianity of Peter, — of 
spiritual religion as against ritual* sm. As Paul swept aside the 
Jewish rites as unnecessary, and made Christianity begin with a 
spiritual act, faith, so Protestantism at length swept aside all the 
complicated ritual of the Roman Church, and taught the same 
immediate relationship between the soul and its God. 

More particularly, the position of Protestantism is as follows : 

1. Man is justified — that is, accepted as righteous by God — 
on condition of faith alone in Christ, which faith is a personal 
trust in him and living union with him. Without this faith no 
deeds are acceptable. Good works are the result of, not the 
preparation for, faith. The Romanist maintains that man is 
justified by faith and works, faith being assent and submission 
to God as revealed through the Church, and good works — that 
is, the deeds commanded by the Church — being conditions of 
justification, not merely its results. 

2. The Spirit of God is given directly in response to faith. The 
Romanist maintains that it comes through the sacraments, — as 
baptism and the Eucharist, — administered by duly authorized 
officials of the Church. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 73 

8. Hence the Protestant holds to both an invisible Church, made 
up of all believers, Christ being the head, and a visible Church, 
made up of the various denominations who hold the true faith, — 
the former being the essential thing. The Catholic admits no 
such distinction, holding that the Church of Rome is the one and 
only Church of Christ, outside of which there is no ordinary 
possibility of salvation. 

4. Hence the great difference between the two as to the source 
of authority. The Protestant maintains that the Bible alone, as 
read by the believer in the light of the Holy Spirit given to him 
in consequence of his faith, is the source of belief. The Roman- 
ist claims that while the Bible is inspired and infallible, the 
Church, which superintended its formation and preservation, is 
alone qualified to interpret it, and that the decisions of the 
Councils and Popes are of equal authority with it. Hence the 
Roman Church discourages the irresponsible reading of it by 
the laity. This Church has also accepted the Apocrypha as 
part of the Bible, and the Latin Vulgate, an ancient translation, 
as of equal authority with the original. English-speaking 
Catholics use the Douay Version instead of the so-called 
Version of King James. 

5. From the distinction between the invisible and the visible 
Church comes an important distinction between the two concep- 
tions of the ministry. The Protestant considers all believers to be 
priests in the sense of being able to approach God directly and 
to give significance and value to their own spiritual acts. For 
example, the efficacy of the sacraments depends, not upon who 
administers them, but upon the spirit in which they are received. 
The minister, though "called " to his office by the Holy Spirit, is 
yet essentially one of the members of the church, differing from 
the others only in personal fitness and education. The Roman 
ecclesiastic, priest or bishop, however, is invested with super- 
natural powers, as in a special sense the representative of God. 
Through him alone do the sacraments have efficacy. This power 
comes by the "apostolical succession," — that is, by the trans- 
mission of authority from Christ through the Apostles and their 
successors, the Roman bishops, in an unbroken line. This neces- 



74 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

sity the Protestant, except the Anglican, denies, holding that the 
clergy are immediately commissioned by the Holy Spirit. 

6. The Protestant reduces the seven sacraments to two, — 
baptism and the Lord's Supper; and with the exception of the 
Lutheran and the Anglican, denies to these any necessary convey- 
ance of divine grace to the partaker. The Romanist maintains 
that the sacraments are supernatural channels for the communica- 
tion of spiritual life to the recipient, independently of his or the 
priest's character, — baptism removing the stain of original sin, 
and the Eucharist repeating the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for 
the partaker's sake. The Protestant assigns all the benefit of 
these rites to the faith of the partaker in them. He denies tran- 
substantiation, or the change of the elements into Christ's body 
and blood ; refuses, therefore, to adore them ; and grants the cup 
as well as the bread to the laity. Many Protestants also reject 
infant baptism. As to the other sacraments, confirmation is often 
replaced by admission to the church on confession of faith ; pen- 
ance is entirely swept away, together with auricular confession and 
priestly absolution ; the doctrine of indulgences, which started the 
Reformation, is wholly set aside ; ordination is often made an act 
of the congregation in the exercise of their own priestly func- 
tions, and the celibacy of the clergy is not required ; matrimony is 
divested of many restrictions laid upon it by Romanists, — as 
refusal to unite with those outside the Church unless by dispen- 
sation, and then only with those properly baptized, — divorce 
being more liberally allowed ; and extreme unction is abandoned. 

7. Some minor differences may be considered together. The 
Protestants do not believe in purgatory, holding to heaven and 
hell only. They refuse any worship to the Virgin Mary or the 
saints or to images and relics, which the Romanist gives, though 
in different senses of the word " worship." 

The Romanist and the Evangelical Protestant agree, however, 
on many points, — the inspiration and authority of the Bible ; 
the Trinity ; the deity of Christ ; the fall of man and his conse- 
quent helplessness and need of redemption from without, the 
redemption coming through the sacrifice of Christ; heaven and 
hell. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 75 

Statistics. — Of the 150,000,000 Protestants in the world, 
47,000,000 are said to be Lutherans, 25,000,000 Methodists, 
24,000,000 Episcopalians, 20,000,000 Presbyterians and Reformed, 
and 13,000,000 Baptists, though where any of these faiths are 
"established," it is the whole population which is often included 
in these figures. In the United States thtre are said to be over 
50 ; 000,000 Protestants, including most of the 140 " religious 
bodies" reported in the census of 1890. The official reports of 
the various sects show the number of communicants to be about 
1*4,000,000, of whom 4,980,000 are Methodists, 4,292,000 Bap- 
tists, 1,229,000 Presbyterians, 1,086,000 Lutherans, 620,000 Dis- 
ciples of Christ (1889), 491,000 Congregationalists, and 480,000 
Episcopalians. The usual estimate of adherents is three and one 
half times the number of communicants. Of 18,000,000 scholars 
in the Sunday-schools of the world, one half are in this country. 
There are 143,761 churches and 95,000 ministers. 

Unitarians consider, not only that they are Protestants, but that 
they alone are true to the fundamental Protestant principle of the 
direct communication of the soul with God. They charge the 
Evangelicals with having displaced the barrier of the Church and 
its rites to replace it, not only with a literal Bible upon which 
they cannot agree, and which they have made an unwilling obsta- 
cle to the progress of truth, but with creeds defining the meaning 
of the Bible, which they have made often of equal and even supe- 
rior authority to the Scriptures. Unitarians consider the Bible 
as a record *of a revelation in its earlier stages, but not as the 
finished revelation itself ; and reject creeds as unjustifiable limits 
to the freedom, and so to the reality and sincerity, of thought. 
They hold that God speaks still to the minds and souls of men, 
revealing fresh truth, as Jesus foretold (John xvi. 12, 13). The 
divergence of Unitarians on other points of doctrine will appear 
as those points come up for special consideration. 

QUESTIONS. 

What does the word " Protestant " mean? When and how did it arise ? 
Who are included under it now? What were the causes of the Reforma- 
tion ? What was the aim of the Reformers ? Do you think that the Roman 
Church could have been kept whole forever ? How are Protestants and 
Catholics now divided? Who was the first Protestant leader? What was 



76 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

the first division among the Protestants ? What was the greatest division ? 
What was the course of the two parties ? Which has done the world the 
more good? What is the position of the Church of England toward the 
Reformation ? What was the first break in Calvinism ? What was the point 
of difference ? What was the more serious break ? On what doctrine ? 
What is meant by Liberal Protestantism ? Why should it be called '''Lib- 
eral" ? What is the meaning of Evangelical V Is its use justified ? What 
sects does it include ? What other classification could be made ? Where 
would you place the Baptists ? Methodists? New Church? Episcopalians? 
Universalists ? Friends ? Name some signs of rationalism among these. 
How do you think Christians will be divided in future ? 

What ancient tendency is represented in Protestantism ? Can you trace 
both kinds of religion in single sects ? Among the Baptists ? Episcopalians ? 
Unitarians ? What is the difference between Romanist and Protestant as 
to faith and works ? salvation ? the Church ? the source of authority? 
How does the Protestant Bible differ from the Romanist ? How do Roman- 
ist and Protestant differ as to the priesthood ? What is meant by the " apos- 
tolical succession " ? What is the Protestant doctrine of the sacraments? 
How do the two parties differ as to the Eucharist ? divorce ? indulgences ? 
adoration of saints ? future state ? On what points do the two agree ? 

Is the Unitarian a Protestant? Why ? In what fundamental point does 
he differ from the "Evangelicals" ? What is the difference between the 
Bible as being the word of God and containing the word of God ? 

REFERENCES. 

Perhaps the best handbook is The Era of the Protestant Reformation, 
by F. Seebohm. Longer and more reflective is The History of the Refor- 
mation, by Prof. George P. Fisher. Still longer and more standard, Ranke's 
History of the Popes, and D'Aubigne"s History of the Reformation; J. H. 
Allen's Christian History in its Three Great Periods, vol. iii , and Outline, 
chaps, vii.-ix. ; Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Reformation," "Luther," etc.; 
The Reformation (Handbooks for Bible-Classes), T. M. Lindsay, Edin- 
burgh, T. & T. Clark; Schaff's Creeds of Christendom, vol. i., especially 
pp. 924-928, where the agreements with and differences from Romanism 
are clearly given ; Charles Beard, Hibbert Lectures for 1883, The Reforma- 
tion of the Sixteenth Century in its Relation to Modern Thought and 
Knowledge; W. E. H. Lecky, Rationalism in Europe: Dorner's History 
of Protestant Theology, 2 vols. Bibliography at end of Fisher's History 
of the Christian Church, said of his History of the Reformation, 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 77 

Section I. 

THE EVANGELICAL PROTESTANT SECTS. 

1. THE LUTHERANS. 

While one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye 
not carnal ? Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom 
ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man ? I have planted, Apollos 
watered; but God gave the increase. — 1 Cor. iii. 4-6. 

Name. — The name Lutheran was, like the name Christian, 
first given in contempt by enemies. In time its application was 
widened by Catholics to all opponents of Rome. Among Prot- 
estants the name is applied to those whose creed is the Augsburg 
Confession. In Poland and Austria their official name is " The 
Church of the Augsburg Confession," but they are generally 
known as "The Evangelical Lutheran Church." 

History. — The history of the Lutherans after the death of 
their leader is very painful. Instead of standing united and 
firm against their still powerful enemy, the Roman Church, they 
broke into the most bitter controversies among themselves and 
with the Calvinists, under cover of which the Romanists regained 
much of the ground they had lost, and the banner of aggressive 
Protestantism was taken up by the Calvinists. Melanchthon, the 
friend of Luther, found himself diverging from him on the doc- 
trines of the sacrament and of predestination. The lamentable 
disputes between the two parties should be read in Schaff (vol i. 
pp. 268-307). They were terminated in 1577 by the " Form of 
Concord," which most signed, but many rejected and reject still. 
The excessive emphasis on dogma led to two reactions, — one of 
the heart, called "Pietism," under Spener (1635-1705), much 
like Methodism ; and one of the head, called " Rationalism," 
w r hich resulted in the severe criticism of the Bible that has marked 
much of later German scholarship, reaching its climax in Strauss, 
Baur, and the Dutch Kuenen and Wellhausen. In Prussia, in 
1817, and in a few smaller States, a forced union was made by 
the secular authorities between the Calvinists and the Lutherans 
under the name of " The United Evangelical Church." The 



78 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

stricter Lutherans resisted this, and made the sect of " Old 
Lutherans," who were finally given legal footing; but many emi- 
grated to America. To-day Lutheranism is the established religion 
in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and the prevailing religion in 
Saxony, Hanover, and northern Germany generally, in Baden 
and Wiirtemberg in the south, and in some districts of Russia, — 
as St. Petersburg, Livonia, and Finland. The German element 
in Hungary and Transylvania is Lutheran, the Magyars being 
Calvinist. 

In the United States, the first Lutherans came from Holland, 
in 1621, and settled in New Amsterdam, or New York ; but the 
first organized church and minister were Swedish, at Christiana 
(now Wilmington), in Delaware, 1638. This minister translated 
Luther's Smaller Catechism into the Indian tongue, and was the 
first missionary to the Indians of North America. The first 
German Lutheran church was organized in New York, 1044. 
There was not much growth until the first half of the next cen- 
tury, when large numbers of German immigrants came over. Aid 
was asked of the home churches; and in 1742 came Dr. Henry 
Melchior Muhlenberg, who was the virtual founder of the Lu- 
theran denomination in this country. The first synod was organ- 
ized in Philadelphia, 1748. The Lutherans were intensely 
patriotic during the Revolution, and induced many Hessians to 
desert, thousands of whom, after the war, settled with them 
permanently. 

But divisions rent the churches here as at home. The German 
language was at first used exclusively in the churches. English 
was introduced into one church in 1819, and it remained the only 
one for years. Much disputation ensued on this point. The 
u General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the 
United States" had been established in 1820. It adopts only 
the Augsburg Confession as its doctrinal basis, and allows a 
liberal construction of even this. 

In 1847 the " Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States " was 
formed, — generally called " Missourians," — very active and strict 
in doctrine and discipline, powerful chiefly among the Germans 
of the West. They were incorporated in 1872 into the " Synodi- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 79 

cal Conference of North America." It requires its ministers to 
subscribe to the whole Book of Concord, u as the pure, unadul- 
terated explanation and exposition of the divine word and 
will." During the late war, in 1863, the " General Synod of the 
Southern States " was formed, in doctrinal agreement with the 
" General Synod." Jn 186 7 the 4i General Council" was formed, 
accepting the " unaltered Augsburg Confession in its original 
sense," — of doctrine intermediate between the other tw r o bod- 
ies. Besides these are several other bodies and independent 
churches. 

Doctrine. — The Evangelical Lutheran churches agree upon 
the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, 
and the Augsburg Confession. The stricter churches add to these 
the " Apology of the Confession " (prepared by Melanchthon as 
an answer to the "Confutation " of the Catholics, promulgated by 
the Diet of Augsburg in 1630 as a reply to the " Confession "J ; 
the " Articles of Smalcaid " (a creed prepared by Luther to ex- 
press his belief at a council called by the Pope at Mantua, in 1537, 
and signed by a convention of Protestant theologians at Smalcaid, 
in Thuringia) ; the two Catechisms, Large and Small, written by 
Luther to replace the Catholic catechisms for the young ; and the 
"Form of Concord," prepared by six divines in 1577. Together 
these nine creeds form the " Book of Concord." 

The characteristic doctrines of Lutheran, as distinguished from 
Calvinist churches are these : — 

1. They teach consubstantiation, or the real presence of Christ's 
body and blood in, with, and under the elements, literally eaten 
by unworthy as well as by worthy communicants. This doctrine 
must be distinguished from the Roman Catholic doctrine of tran- 
substantiation, which teaches that bread and wine are changed 
into, do not merely coexist with, the body and blood of Christ. 
Calvin taught a spiritual presence of Christ at the Eucharist, 
enjoyed by believers only. 

2. Behind this doctrine lies that of the ubiquity of Christ's 
glorified body. " The human nature, while retaining its inherent 
properties, may and does receive the attributes of divine glory, 
— majesty, power, omniscience, and omnipresence." Hence it 



80 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

is present, as God is, in all places and things, the Eucharistic 
elements included, at the same time. 

3. With the supernatural Eucharist goes a supernatural baptism, 
by which the child is regenerated, and without which there is 
ordinarily no salvation. In and with the water, as in and with the 
Eucharistic elements, goes a divine saving power. 

4. The Lutherans hold that atonement was made for and salva- 
tion freely offered to all men, and that no one is lost save by his 
own refusal to repent and believe. They therefore deny the 
Calvinist doctrine of election and an atonement limited to the 
elect. As one is free to take divine grace, so one may afterward 
fall from it. The doctrine of the perseverance, or necessary 
continuance in grace, of the believer is therefore also rejected. 

Lutherans are also more conservative in the retention of many 
church festivals and usages of the Catholic Church, though their 
tendency is now toward agreement with other Protestants in such 
non-essential matters. 

In other doctrines the Lutherans are mainly at one with the 
rest of Evangelical Christendom. 

Government. — The organization of the Lutheran churches 
varies in different nations. In Germany, which was divided at 
the Reformation into small States, each obliged to follow the 
religion of its prince, the ruler naturally took the place of the 
bishop, and became the head of his churches. Under him, and 
largely appointed by him, was the consistory, or council, — the 
executive body. The congregations have little power. The rules 
of the churches differ greatly ; in 1846 more than one hundred 
and eighty different constitutions could be counted. 

In Norway and Denmark the Roman Catholic bishops were 
replaced by Lutheran bishops, who are, however, appointed by 
the king, as head of the Church. In Sweden the Roman bishops 
were converted; so that the apostolic succession is preserved, 
though no doctrinal use is made of the fact. There is also an 
archbishop (of Upsala). 

In the United States the congregation has more power. It 
appoints its own pastor, who is then, however, responsible to the 
Synod in doctrine and discipline. The District Synod is made up 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 81 

of delegates, lay and clerical, from the churches, and sends 
delegates to the General Synod. 



Lutheranism deserves honor as having been the u old guard" 
of Protestantism, — the first form in which the movement took 
shape. But it proved reactionary within and an impediment to 
the success of the movement without. It turned its energy 
against heresies in its own ranks rather than against the common 
enemy, whose disastrous recovery of ground must be largely 
attributed to Lutheran narrowness and disputatiousness. The 
sword of conquest passed into the hands of the Calvinists. Even 
in this country the Lutherans have proved reactionary, joining 
hands in the West with the Romanists against the public schools, 
and stoutly maintaining, not only their original doctrine, but the 
language of the land they have left in the land that has received 
and sheltered them. 

To the Unitarian the Lutheran history is valuable as showing 
the disastrous effects of limiting truth by the words rather than 
by the spirit of a single man, though he be as great as Luther, 
and by creeds which not only circumscribe truth, but dictate even 
what shall be read in the Bible. Such a course leads, not only to 
divisions and controversies, but to reactions as violent as the 
action, and resulting in the overthrow of the creeds so vehemently 
urged. That the "rationalism" and ll destructive criticism" 
which characterize German thought to-day should have sprung up 
in the bosom of a church so sternly resolved to keep thought in 
bonds is very suggestive to all those who consider creeds conserva- 
tive ; while the spirit in which the controversies were carried on 
shows afresh how far dogmatic clearness may be from the spirit 
of Christ. 

Statistics. — There are in the world about 47,000,000 Luther- 
ans. In the United States there were in 1890, it was estimated, 
about 4,000,000. The churches report 1,086,000 communicants, 
7,948 congregations, 4,692 clergymen. There are 57 synods; 23 
theological seminaries, or departments; 28 academies; 10 female 
seminaries; 48 benevolent institutions; and over 100 periodicals 
in English, German, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandish, and Finnish. 



82 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 



QUESTIONS. 

What was the origin of the name ? What are the official names now V 
What can you say of the German Lutherans in their early history ? Did 
this follow naturally from Luther's doctrine of private judgment V What 
were the points of controversy V Do they seem to you worth while ? What 
were the consequences to Protestantism ? How was it ended V What reac- 
tions followed ? Were these natural ? Why ? Where are Lutherans most 
numerous in Europe ? Who were the first Lutherans in this country ? On 
what were they divided ? Who was their great organizer V Name some 
of their divisions to-day. 

What are their standards of belief? What is their doctrine of the 
Eucharist? of Christ's body? of baptism? of the atonement? Are they 
conservative or progressive generally ? How are they organized ? What 
is the tendency in this country? Why? How many are there in the 
world ? How many here ? What is your impression concerning them in 
general ? What honor is due them ? What may be charged against them ? 
What lessons do they teach the Unitarian ? 

REFERENCES. 

The best account of both history and doctrine is in Schaff, vol. i. pp. 
220-3 J:9, vol. iii. pp. 1-193; Fisher's Reformation, chap, v., and other 
works on this period ; McClintock and Strong; and the Lives of Luther, 
especially Kostlin's. For later history, see J. H. Allen's Christian His- 
tory in its Three Great Periods, vol. iii. chap. ix. ; Hagenbach's History 
of the Church in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; Hurst's His- 
tory of Rationalism ; Krauth's Conservative Reformation^ and Wolf's The 
Lutherans in America, 



2. THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. 

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the 
faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might 
be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. — 
Gal. ii. 16. 

Name. — The first title was " The Reformed Protestant Dutch 
Church in North America," — " Reformed," as Calvinistic, not 
Lutheran; "Protestant," as against Rome; "Dutch," as distin- 
guished from the u English," or Episcopal Church, which com- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 83 

peted with it, and after the English conquest of new Netherlands, 
in 1664, oppressed it. The word "Dutch" was added in 1694; 
but in 1867 the present name, "The Reformed Church in Amer- 
ica," was taken. 

History. — The Reformed churches in the United States are 
slips from the Calvinistic churches of Europe. They are divided 
into the Dutch and the German, chiefly for national reasons. 
The Dutch was the first to be transplanted. The principle of 
justification by faith, on which the Reformation of Luther was 
based, was preached in Holland half a century before his day, but 
made little impression. When the Reformation was under way 
it was from Calvin, not Luther, that Dutch Protestantism took 
shape. Its struggles against the Spanish power of Charles V. 
and Philip II. are famous in history. The church took shape in 
a synod at Antwerp in 1563, when the Belgic Confession was 
adopted. Its influence in Europe was very great ; and through 
the English Protestants who took refuge in Holland — among 
them our " Pilgrims ' r — it affected England also. It was in this 
church that the famous Arminian controversy took place, ended 
at the Synod of Dort, in 1619, by the triumph of Calvinism and 
the banishment of the Arminians. 

The first Reformed church in New Amsterdam (later New 
York) was established by the Dutch settlers of the province in 
1619. There were but five churches when the English, in 1664, 
took the province. Life became a somewhat hard struggle to 
them. The attempt to become independent of the church in 
Holland, in 1755, resulted in a fierce struggle and division; but 
in 1792 this came to an end, and the present organization was 
formed. 

Its growth was much hindered by the sole use of the Dutch 
language in service and sermon till 1764, and by its dependence 
and divisions. Though one of the oldest bodies in the country, 
it is not large, though it is wealthy and influential. It cares 
greatly for an educated ministry, and was the first body to institute 
systematic theological instruction in this country. 

Doctrine. — The Reformed Church is essentially Calvinistic 
in doctrine. Its standards are the " Belgic Confession, " the 



84 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

" Heidelberg Catechism," and the "Canons of the Synod of 
Dort,*' which are coincident with the Westminster Confession. 
It used the liturgy adopted in 1568 at Wesel, based on Calvin's, 
translated into English in 1667, when singing in English was also 
introduced. The ministers often wear the Genevan o-own. 

Organization. — The Reformed Church is essentially Presby- 
terian in government, though the bodies have different names. 
The " Consistory " corresponds to the " Session " ; the " Classes " 
to the " Presbytery," the " Particular Synod," and the " General 
Synod." 

There are also a " Board of Foreign Missions," with work in 
China, India, and Japan; with a " Woman's Board," a "Board 
of Domestic Missions," a " Board of Education " to aid theological 
students, a " Board of Publication," etc. 

Statistics. — The report of 1889 gives 36 classes, 546 churches, 
566 ministers, 88,812 communicants, 103,101 in Sunday-schools 
and catechumen classes. For religious and benevolent purposes 
$282,000 were raised, and for congregational uses $971,000. The 
receipts for home missions were $60,000, for foreign $132,000. 
There are two theological schools, — at New Brunswick, N. J., 
and at Holland, Mich. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is meant by the "Reformed" Church? Why was it called 
Dutch ? What is its origin ? How is it divided, and why ? Which 
came here first ? What was its history in Holland ? What had our Pil- 
grims to do with it ? What was its attitude toward Arminianism? Where 
was the first church here built ? What was its fate ? What was the dis- 
sension between it and the home church ? What hindered its growth ? 
What is its character now V What is its doctrine ? What are its standards ? 
How is it governed ? 

REFERENCES. 

For the Church in Holland, see Schaff, vol. i. pp. 502-523, the "Con- 
fessions" in vol. iii. ; also Motley's Rise of the Dutch Republic and United 
Netherlands ; and Prescott's Charles V. For the Church in America, see 
a good article in McClintock; and A Manual of the Reformed Church in 
America, by Edward T. Corwin. 






A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 85 

3. THE EPISCOPALIANS. 

Let all things be done decently and in order. — 1 Cor. xiv. 40. 

Name. — The legal name in England is " The Church of 
England." By this is implied, not only that it is the national 
church, — that is, the nation organized for religious purposes, — 
but that it is the branch in England of the Catholic or Univer- 
sal Church of which the Roman and Greek Churches are also 
branches, though they have added false doctrines to those handed 
down from the Apostles. 

The name in this country is " The Protestant Episcopal Church 
in the United States of America." The word "episcopal" comes 
from the Greek episcopos, or overseer, of which Greek word our 
word " bishop " is a contraction. 

History. — The Church of England claims to have been 
founded by Oriental Christians, and not by missionaries of the 
Church of Rome, of which it kept for a long while its indepen- 
dence. The first historic evidence of Christianity in Britain 
dates back to about 300, and the Church soon had bishops of its 
own. Saint Patricius, or Patrick, was sent as missionary to Ire- 
land, where the Church became strong, and noted for its learning. 
From Ireland went missionaries to the north of Scotland. 

The invasions of the Danes during the fifth and sixth centuries 
practically exterminated the British Church, the remains being 
driven into Scotland and Wales; but in 597 Christianity was re- 
established by Austin, the missionary of Pope Gregory the Great, 
and he became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. About the 
same time representatives of the old British Church came down 
from Scotland ; and disputes arose on points of ritual between 
them and the Roman priests, which were settled in favor of the 
latter at the Council of Whitby, in 664. The Church of Rome 
therefore claims not only to have founded the Church of England 
as a branch of itself, but to have received formal recognition at 
Whitby, — both of which points the Church of England denies, 
claiming distinct origin from and equality with the Church of 



86 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

Rome as also a branch of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic 
Church. It is certain that no part of Europe was more indepen- 
dent of Rome than England, or more sturdy in its resistance to 
her exactions. The reforming spirit was active ; and while 
Luther was beginning the German Reformation, a gentler band 
of scholars, led by Sir Thomas More, John Colet, and the German 
Erasmus, were pleading and working for purer morals, a broader 
spirit, and a more learned clergy in the Church. With Luther, 
however, they had no sympathy or co-operation ; and Henry VIII. 
wrote an abusive book against him. The refusal of the Pope to 
annul the marriage of Henry to his first wife precipitated a crisis ; 
and Henry forced the Houses of Convocation to make the king, 
instead of the Pope, the head of the Church of England. The 
doctrines of the Church, including transubstantiation, remained 
otherwise unchanged. Under Edward VI, (1547-53) the first 
Prayer Book and Forty-Two Articles were published. Under 
Elizabeth the Prayer Book was revised into virtually its present 
shape, and the Forty-Two Articles abridged to the present 
Thirty-Nine. 

The act of Uniformity attempted to stop further reform, and 
establish one Church again throughout the kingdom. But then 
arose the " Puritans," or those who wished worship to be still fur- 
ther purified from things suggestive of Papistry, and to retain 
nothing that was not expressly commanded or sanctioned by 
Scripture, dividing into Presbyterians, and later Independents, 
or Congregationalists. Baptists and " Quakers " also became 
numerous. 

The cessation of the long religious disputes in 1688 was fol- 
lowed by great weariness and laxity during the last century, 
and the condition of the Church and clergy was disgraceful. 
The first reaction came in Methodism, which was continued 
in the Church by the Evangelical or " Low Church " movement. 
But the sternness of its dogmatic emphasis led to the liberal, or 
" Broad Church," movement, under Thomas Arnold, Maurice, 
Whately, Kingsley, Stanley, Jowett, Temple, and others. This, 
in turn, roused the " Tractarian " or " High Church " movement, 
under Newman, Keble, Pusey, and their friends, who invoked 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 87 

against the disrupting influences of German rationalism, which 
threatened to undermine faith in the Church standards and doc- 
trines, the aid of ritual to preserve due reverence for the un- 
revealed mysteries of God. 

The influence of the Traetarian movement has been very deep 
and lasting, and by its emphasis upon the divine origin and office 
of the Church has stimulated very powerfully the zeal of its 
members to make it effective. Within thirty years as many 
millions of pounds have been spent in restoring its cathedrals and 
churches. Great attention has been paid to the enrichment of 
the services, to work among the poor and sick, and to the wider 
problems of modern civilization. What the Council of Trent 
was to the Roman Church, — emphasizing its peculiar doctrines, 
but setting it upon a more earnest and effective basis, — that the 
High Church movement has been to the English Church, which, 
though ministering to a decreasing proportion of the population, 
was probably never more in earnest than to-day. 

In the United States. — The first settlers of Virginia, in 
1607, were members of the Church of England, and churches 
were founded also in New York and other cities. In New Eng- 
land the Church obtained foothold with great difficulty, the people 
bein£ Puritan, and remembering; their contests with the Church 
in old England. The royal governors, however, maintained it ; 
and the Church, in return, when hostility to and finally war with 
the mother country arose, was loyal to the crown, its ministers and 
people being for a long time extremely unpopular for having taken 
the " Tory " side. When the United States became independent 
of England, the Church deemed it necessary to make a separate 
organization. Never having had bishops of its own, it sought the 
ordination of some by the English Church. The clergy of Con- 
necticut, having elected Dr. Samuel Seabury, sent him to the 
Archbishop of Canterbury for consecration. He, however, found 
himself unable to ordain him without requiring the oath of 
allegiance which all candidates had to take. Dr. Seabury there- 
fore was consecrated by three Scotch bishops at Aberdeen, in 
1784. In 1787 Dr. White, of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Provoost, 
of New York, were consecrated at Lambeth, England, by the 



88 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

Archbishops of Canterbury and York and two bishops, the disa- 
bility having been removed. Having now three prelates of its 
own, the Church here was henceforth competent to its own man- 
agement. A provisional liturgy, called the " Proposed Book," was 
issued in 1786, which differed in many respects from the English 
Prayer Book ; but a more conservative spirit prevailed, and in 
1789 the present book was adopted* Subscription to the Thirty- 
Nine Articles is not required of the clergy here as it is in Eng- 
land. The legal name was fixed as " The Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States of America." This name is, how- 
ever, very distasteful to the growing High Church party, who 
dislike to be classed among Protestants. They propose to change 
it to "The American Catholic Church," with a fair prospect of 
final success. 

Doctrines. — The doctrines of the Church of England are to 
be found in its " Book of Common Prayer," " Thirty-Nine Arti- 
cles," and "Homilies." These were adopted by the Protestant 
Episcopal Church of the United States, with a few changes, the 
chief of which was the omission of the Athanasian Creed. 

These formularies are the result of two streams of influence, — 
one from the long-established use of the Catholic Church, the 
other from the German Reformers. The former predominates 
in the Prayer Book, the latter in the Articles and Catechism. 
The Morning and Evening Prayer and the Litany are substan- 
tially translations from the Catholic Breviary. The Communion 
Service is also a translation from the Latin service of the Mass, 
but with a larger admixture by the Reformers. 

All the forms of worship of this Church are prescribed and 
regulated by the Prayer Book. No extempore prayer is allowed, 
and the lessons from Scripture are assigned by unvarying rule. 
The hymns also must first be approved by the proper authorities. 

It is very difficult to expound the doctrines of the Church of 
England. In its three parties it contains the three forms under 
which Christianity exists in the world, elsewhere in separate 
sects. The High Church, which is now predominant, represents 
the Church idea, and is essentially to be ranked with the Roman 
and Greek Churches. The Low Church, which has shrunk very 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 89 

much in numbers and influence, represents the Scriptural idea, and 
is essentially Protestant. The Broad Church is really rational- 
istic, and ranks with the Liberal sects. The difference between 
these parties within the Church is really greater than between 
them and the sects which stand for their fundamental tendencies ; 
but they all find support in the formularies of the Church, owing 
largely to that difference in the origin of the latter which has 
been explained. 

The Church of England, which will be understood to include 
the Episcopal Church of our own country, agrees with the Roman 
Catholic Church in believing in " One Catholic and Apostolic 
Church," — that is, in an external and visible institution, having 
authority over all the world given it by Jesus Christ and trans- 
mitted through the Apostles and the bishops ordained by them 
in direct and demonstrable succession to the present day. Of 
this Church it claims to be a legitimate branch, ministering to the 
English nation, or the Church in England. It differs from the 
Roman Church in denying supremacy to the Bishop of Rome, 
and in rejecting such doctrines as it claims were not of apostolic 
origin, but have been added in later days, — as the papal infalli- 
bility, transubstantiation, communion in one kind, purgatory, 
etc. It concedes to the Roman and Greek Churches, however, 
apostolic authority in all other things in their own territory, they 
being with itself branches of the Catholic or universal Church. 
Though not pronouncing officially upon the validity of ministers 
not episcopally ordained, this Church virtually denies it, not allow- 
ing them to minister in its pulpits or at its altars, and generally 
forbidding its own clergy to officiate in churches of other faiths. 

The apostolic descent of the Church of England gives, it is 
claimed, validity to its sacraments, of which it maintains two, bap- 
tism and the Supper of the Lord, instead of the Roman seven. 
The sacraments are " outward and visible signs of an inward and 
spiritual grace," given in or with them to the partakers. By 
baptism divine strength descends into the soul, contending with 
original sin, disposing to righteousness, and remitting previous 
actual sin. As stated in the order for infant baptism, the child 
is " regenerate." In the communion the body and blood of Christ 



90 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

are present in the bread and wine, conveying new strength to the 
soul of the partakers. 

But it is upon these doctrines of the Church and the sacra- 
ments that the divergence of opinion already mentioned chiefly 
occurs. The above is the High Church view. The Low Church, 
— which on this point may be said to include both the Evangeli- 
cal and the Broad Church parties, — while admitting the apostolic 
authority of its clergy, ascribes to it little practical value. The 
Evangelical churchman, like the Protestant, lavs emphasis upon 
justification by faith, —that is, direct faith in Christ, —to which 
an apostolic clergy and sacraments may be helps, but are not 
indispensable. His tendency is to disregard the Church as an 
external institution, going immediately to the Bible, and tretino- 
in the immediate action of the Holy Spirit upon the reader's 
heart. Baptism and the Eucharist are to him rather symbols 
than divine instrumentalities. The Evangelical churchman is 
virtually a Protestant, separated from other Protestants mainly 
by his use of the Prayer Book. The Broad Churchman, like all 
so-called liberals, lays stress upon character, values the Church 
and its sacraments as means of influencing the soul, and has less 
to say of faith in its theological sense. On the other hand, many 
High Churchmen are hardly to be distinguished from Romanists 
in their views of the necessity of baptism and of the Real Pres- 
ence in the Eucharist, some even maintaining transubstantiation. 
They also grant higher power to their clergy, — in receiving 
confession, imposing penance, and granting absolution. 

Besides these most characteristic doctrines, the Church of 
England holds to the Trinity, as defined especially in the Nicene 
Creed, including the deity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit ; the 
inspiration of the Bible, though the Broad Churchmen are very 
lax herein ; the taint of original sin, predisposing to evil ; pre- 
destination and election, in which the Evangelicals are decidedly 
Calvinistic, though Hi^h Churchmen and Broad Churchmen are 
as clearly Arminian ; the resurrection of the body, though with 
much divergence as to what this means; and eternal punish- 
ment of the wicked, though Broad Churchmen like Maurice, 
Kingsley, and Archdeacon Farrar have openly denied this, it 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 91 

having been omitted from the Articles, though it is plainly 
implied in the Litany. 

Organization. — The highest officers in the Church of Eng- 
land are the archbishops, or metropolitans (Canterbury and 
York). The legislative power lies in the two Convocations, pre- 
sided over by the two archbishops, and consisting each of two 
houses, the upper containing the bishops, deans, archdeacons, and 
abbots of the archdiocese, the lower the representatives of the 
clergy. Their decisions, however, must be ratified by Parlia- 
ment before becoming law, and they cannot even be assembled 
without writ of the crown. 

The bishops have jurisdiction over the churches in their respec- 
tive territorial dioceses. They alone can administer confirmation, 
ordain priests and deacons, or dedicate new churches. The 
twenty-four senior sees send their bishops to the House of Lords. 
They are nominated by the crown, and elected by the chapter of 
their cathedral. The cathedral is the chief church of the diocese, 
and is so called from the bishop's seat (cathedra), which it contains. 
Hence, also, the cathedral church or city is called his " see " (sedes, 
siege). This church is administered by the chapter, which con- 
sists of the dean, or presiding officer, and (usually) four canons, 
who take turns in conducting the services. Each diocese has also 
from two to four archdeacons, who are in many ways the executive 
officers and aids of the bishop. Next come the priests, and finally 
the deacons, in which office every priest must serve at least a 
year before ordination to the priesthood. A curate is an as- 
sistant to the incumbent of a parish, and may be either a priest 
or a deacon. 

The Church of England is the Established Church of England 
and Wales. In Scotland the Established Church is Presbyterian, 
while in Ireland there has been none since the disestablishment 
of the Anglican Episcopal Church in 1869. By the "Established 
Church " is meant the official or national Church. The sovereign 

o 

must be a member of it. Its prelates are peers of the realm. 
Its liturgy is used upon all official occasions and in all govern- 
ment institutions where any devotional exercises are held ; and it 
retains the churches, churchyards, and other ecclesiastical prop- 



92 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

erty held by the Church before the changes made by Henry VIII. 
and his successors. This property constitutes its endowment. 
Formerly it levied compulsory rates upon all taxable property ; 
but these are now abolished along with most other peculiar privi- 
leges, — as the power to perform the marriage ceremony or the 
sole right of its members to be elected to Parliament. 

In the United States the Episcopal Church is upon a level with 
all other religious bodies before the law. It has no archbishops. 
The bishops are elected by the conventions of their dioceses, the 
election being ratified by the General Convention or its repre- 
sentatives, in which both lay and clerical delegates vote. They 
are consecrated by other bishops, at least three being necessary. 
There is but one cathedral, that at Albany, but more are planned. 
The legislative body is the General Convention, which meets 
once in three years. It consists of the " House of Bishops " and 
the " House of Deputies," to the latter each diocese sending four 
clergymen and four laymen, and each Missionary District one. 
There is also an informal but very interesting body called the 
" Church Congress," here as well as in England, for discussion of 
important questions. Beside the bishops there are priests and 
deacons, with archdeacons and other officers, as need requires. 

Statistics. — There are in the Church of England 2 arch- 
bishops, 28 bishops, 30 deans, 74 archdeacons, and about 13,000 
parochial clergy. The number of people nominally connected 
with the Church is about 13,000,000, though there are accommo- 
dations for less than half that number. The number of active 
members is probably less than that of the " dissenters." It con- 
tains, however, most of the nobility, as well as the royal family. 
It is very wealthy, its annual income being estimated at over 
£7,000,000, or $35,000,000. The salary of the Archbishop of 
Canterbury is $75,000 a year, the lowest salary of any bishop 
being $12,000, though a large part of these sums is usually spent 
in charities and upon the needs of the diocese. The " livings," 
or endowments, of the parochial clergy are also often large, 
though a thousand of them receive less than $250. 

In the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States there 
were, in 1890, 50 bishops, besides 17 missionary bishops, nearly 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 93 

4,000 clergy, 3,500 parishes, and over 480,000 communicants. 
Their total contributions for church and missionary purposes, 
$11,277,000. There were also in the Sunday-schools over 360,000 
scholars and 29,000 teachers. 



The Episcopalians have been the best representatives in this 
country of good taste and good manners in worship. The dig- 
nity and verbal simplicity of its liturgy and the aesthetic excel- 
lence of its music, architecture, and appointments have done 
much to correct on the one hand the coldness and stiffness of 
Puritan services, and on the other hand the " revival " extrava- 
gances of a new country. Its chief emphasis is not upon the 
sermon, as in most Protestant churches, but upon the service. It 
has paid great attention to the organization of parishes for chari- 
table work, and has had great success in the " free-seat " system, 
as opposed to the sale or rental of pews. In many philanthropic 
directions, as temperance and social purity, it has done good ser- 
vice, while some of its bishops have been very outspoken on the 
great social problems of the day. 

All this has increased with the growing claim to be the Church 
in America, — the sole legitimate representative of Christ, — at 
least, as compared with the other Protestant sects. This also 
gives it a strong hold upon the reverence and loyalty of its mem- 
bers, and a growing attraction for the conservative classes, — 
those of wealth and social rank. But another and less agree- 
able consequence is an increasing exclusiveness and withdrawal 
of fellowship from other bodies. As the Church, it declines to 
consider itself on a level with "the sects," works less and less 
with them, and holds its clergv at a distance from theirs. It 
stands thus in contrast with the rapidly growing sense of fellow- 
ship among the different branches of the Christian Church, and 
the tendency to a working, if not to a corporate, unity. To Lib- 
erals this assumption and the exclusiveness which follows from it 
cannot but be repulsive, and the beauty and dignity of its wor- 
ship cannot hide the fact that the Episcopal Church stands in the 
way of one of the most beautiful manifestations of the Christian 
spirit. Xor can they fail to see that though the Apostles' Creed 
is made the standard of belief, yet the Book of Common Prayer 
virtually implies when it does not plainly assert many doctrines 
which Liberals have put aside as untrue. The baptismal service, 
especially, in declaring the child " regenerate by baptism," strikes 
at the root of Protestantism ; while the Litany contains petitions 



94 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

which no Unitarian can offer. While, therefore, he may admire 
the beauty and dignity of the liturgy, sincerity forbids him to 
use it. 

QUESTIONS, 

What is implied in the title, "The Church of England " ? What does 
"Episcopal" mean? Are any other bodies Episcopal? Why? What 
does the English Church claim as to its origin ? What does the Roman 
Church say to this? What can be said on either side? What was the 
Church's attitude toward the German Reformation ? Who led the English 
movement ? What else do you know of any of them ? What led to the 
break with Rome? When was the first Prayer Book compiled? When 
the present one ? Who were the Puritans ? Would it not have been better 
to concede something to keep the "dissenters" in the Church? What 
bodies can you think of who have come out of this Church ? What condi- 
tion succeeded that of dispute? What reactions came from it? Who led 
them ? What can you recall about any of these men ? How do your sym- 
pathies turn ? What has been the influence of the High Church move- 
ment ? Who brought the Church to this country? How did it stand in 
New England ? What was its attitude during the Revolution? How was 
the Church organized in this country ? What is its name here ? What 
change is proposed ? What does this imply ? What do you think of it ? 

What are the standards of doctrine? What influences formed them? 
What restrictions are placed upon worship ? What difficulty is there in 
expounding the doctrines ? What are the three parties ? What tendencies 
do they embody ? How are they really affiliated ? What is the High 
Church view of the Church ? How does it look upon the Roman and Greek 
Churches ? How do they look upon it? What view of the clergy does this 
involve ? what of the sacraments ? What is the view of baptism ? of the 
communion ? How do the Low Church views differ from these ? How do 
those of the Broad Church ? How do the parties differ on the inspiration of 
the Bible ? on predestination? on eternal punishment ? 

What grades of officers are there in the Church of England ? What is 
a cathedral? a deacon? a curate? What is meant by the "Established 
Church " ? How is it governed in England ? What officers has the Church 
here ? What is the governing body ? What other body is there ? 

What do the Episcopalians best represent ? In what ways ? What have 
they done for parish work ? for free churches ? for philanthropic causes ? 
What has given importance to these ? What other effects has it had ? 
What criticism can you make on its attitude to other bodies ? W r hat do you 
think of its doctrines ? How far can you use its liturgy ? What do you 
think of liturgical service in general? What are its advantages? its 
disadvantages ? 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 95 



REFERENCES. 

For the sources of the history and the standard books, see the biblio- 
graphy at the close of Fisher; Schaff, vol. i. pp. 592-665; Fisher, Index, 
"England" and "England, Church of;" C. Arthur Lane, Illustrated 
Notes on Church History, 2 small volumes; Green's Short History of the 
English People, chaps, vii. and viii.: Herford's Story of Religion in Eng- 
land. For the Roman Catholic side, see Lingard's History of England; 
and for the Puritan, Xeal's History of the Puritans. For later history, see 
W. X. Molesworth's History of the Church of England from 1660; Lecky's 
History of England in the Eighteenth Century ; Tulloch's Movements oj 
Religious Thought in Britain during the Nineteenth Century; Newman's 
Apologia, 1 and his Letters; Thomas Mozley's Reminiscences of the Oriel 
Movement; and G. G Perry's History of the Church of England in the 
Nineteenth Century, 3 vols.; also lives of Keble, Pusey, Whately, Wil- 
berforce, etc. The history in this country has lately been told anew by 
S. D. McConnell in his History of the American Episcopal Church. 
See also Bishop W. S. Perry's History of the American Episcopal 

1 Cardinal Newman was the leader of the Oxford or Tractarian move- 
ment in the Church of England, which, starting with the assumption that 
there is a visible and authoritative Church on the earth, strove to believe 
that the Anglican is that Church. Newman became a Roman Catholic in 
1845, and his mature views upon this point are of great weight. 

"I cannot tell how soon there came on me, but very soon, an extreme 
astonishment that I had ever imagined it [the Church of England] a portion 
of the Catholic Chnrch. ... I saw it as it was, — ... a mere national 
institution. . . . And when I looked back upon the poor Anglican Church, 
for which I labored so hard, and thought of our various attempts to dress it 

doctrinallv and aesthetically, it seemed to me to be the veriest of nonen- 
tities. . . . And as to its possession of an episcopal succession from the time 
of the Apostles, ... I must have Saii.t Philip's gift, who saw the sacer- 
dotal character on the face of a gayly-attired youngster, before I can by my 
own wit acquiesce in it; for antiquarian arguments are quite unequal to the 
urgency of visible facts" (Apologia). 

"Why should I wish to see it [the Anglican Church] overthrown ? While 
Catholics are so weak ... it is doing our work; and though it does harm in 
a measure, ... the balance is in our favor" (Apologia). 

"As to your question about the growth of Church principles in the Angli- 
can Church, I rejoice in the fact; but as to the why, ... it may be to pre- 
pare for a large addition of members to the Roman Catholic Church" 
(Letter to Canon Maccoll). 



96 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

Church, 2 vols.; Palfrey's History of New England; and Footers Annals 
of King's Chapel. 

For doctrine, consult the Booh of Common Prayer, which contains the 
Creeds and Thirty-Nine Articles ; Schaff, vol. iii. p. 486, has the Articles 
and the American revision of them; J. H. Blunt' s Annotated Booh of Com- 
mon Prayer ; J. R. Lumby, The Creeds ; Bishop Pearson's Exposition of the 
Creed; A. W. Little (High Church), Reasons for being a Churchman; 
R. F. Littledale's Plain Reasons against joining the Church of Rome ; 
E. Hatch's Organization of the Early Christian Churches; and Hooker's 
Ecclesiastical Polity. 



4. THE REFORMED EPISCOPALIANS. 

foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey 
the truth ? . . . Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the 
hearing of faith ? — Gal. iii. 1, 2. 

The Reformed Episcopal Church, as its name indicates, is a 
secession from the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United 
States of America. 

In October, 1873, the General Conference of the Evangelical 
Alliance met in New York. In the general communion service 
which was held, Assistant Bishop Cummins, of Kentucky, and the 
Dean of Canterbury, England, participated. This drew out a 
public protest from the bishop of New York, in which a large 
part of the Episcopal Church warmly sympathized. This seemed 
to Bishop Cummins the climax of the tendency to High Church 
ritualism and exclusiveness ; and he resigned his position, and 
left the Church. He was formally deposed, but proceeded to 
form a new organization, at a council held in New York, Dec. 2, 
1873. Since then it has grown steadily, though not rapidly. 

Doctrine. — The standard of belief is the " Thirty-Five Arti- 
cles," a revision of the English Thirty-Nine, in which the Apos- 
tles' (except "He descended into hell") and Nicene Creeds are 
accepted. The Liturgy was also revised, in general agreement 
with the first revision of the American Church in 1 786, omitting 
from the baptismal service the thanksgiving for the "regenera- 
tion " of the child, and changing throughout the words " priest " 



A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 97 

and " altar" to " minister " and "Lord's table." The general 
position of the new body may best be seen in the 

DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES. 

" I The Reformed Episcopal Church, holding < the faith once 
delivered to the saints,' declares its belief in the Holy Scriptures 
of the Old and Xew Testaments as the Word of God and the 
sole Rule of Faith and Practice ; in the Creed ' commonly called 
the Apostles' Creed ; ' in the divine institution of the Sacraments 
of Baptism and the Lord's Supper ; and in the doctrines of grace 
substantially as they are set forth in the Thirty-Nine Articles of 
Religion. 

" II. This Church recognizes and adheres to Episcopacy, not 
as of divine right, but as a very ancient and desirable form of 
church polity. 

"III. This Church, retaining a Liturgy which shall not be 
imperative or repressive of freedom," etc. 

" IV. This Church condemns and rejects the following erro- 
neous and strange doctrines as contrary to God's Word: — 

" First, That the Church of Christ exists only in one order or 
form of ecclesiastical polity. 

"Second, That Christian ministers are < priests * in another 
sense than that in which all believers are ' a royal priesthood.' 

" Third, That the Lord's Table is an altar, on which the obla- 
tion of the Body and Blood of Christ is offered anew to the 
Father. 

" Fourth, That the Presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper 
is a presence in the elements of Bread and Wine. 

"Fifth, That Regeneration is inseparably connected with 
Baptism." 

The Reformed Episcopalians are thus simply belated Puritans. 
They are those of the Protestant or Pauline wing who can no 
longer endure the Churchly or Petrine tendencies of the Epis- 
copal Church. In their emphasis upon the Bible as the rule of 
faith and upon justification by faith as their leading doctrine, in 
their assertion that the Liturgy is not obligatory but expedient 



98 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

and voluntary, and that the Episcopal form of government is not 
essential, that the minister and people are equal, and in their pro- 
test against belief in the supernatural effect of the communion and 
of baptism, they are thorough-going Evangelical Protestants. 

Organization. — The Reformed Episcopal Church retains the 
threefold order of bishops, priests, and deacons, though holding 
them as not essential, and recognizing the validity of the ministry 
of other churches. It may claim for its bishops an apostolic suc- 
cession through Bishop Cummins, though the Mother Church 
demands ordination by three bishops ; but it does not regard 
this as necessary, and even considers the doctrine " unscriptural 
and productive of great mischief." 

Statistics. — There were in 1890 106 churches and missions, 
with 9,500 communicants and 12,000 members of the Sunday- 
schools. The church property amounts to $1,250,000, and the 
annual contributions for all purposes to $175,000. There are 
two periodicals and a theological school. 



So far as the Reformed Episcopal Church is a protest against 
the theory of an authoritative and exclusive Church and of super- 
natural sacraments, it has our sympathy. It has long been a 
mystery to us how so many men of trusted integrity and frank- 
ness could remain in the English and Episcopal Churches with 
their known disbelief in so many points of its doctrine and usage. 
So far, however, as it not only embraces but emphasizes the 
Evangelical doctrines, it holds us off. Apparently it lays greater 
stress on these doctrines to make up for its falling away from the 
" Church " position. As it differs from conservative Congrega- 
tionalists or Presbyterians only in government and liturgy, we 
may look for an ultimate union between it and some such body, 
especially as there seems a strong tendency among them toward 
liturgical service and episcopal government. 

QUESTIONS. 

Analyze the name and explain its parts. What was its origin ? In your 
judgment was it right for officers of the Episcopal Church to receive com- 
munion from officers of " the sects " ? On what theory of that church 
would it be right ? on what theory wrong? Do you think Bishop Cummins 
was right in leaving his church ? Was it right in deposing him ? What 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 99 

are the standards of doctrine of the Reformed Episcopal Church ? TVhat 
change was made in the Apostles' Creed ? what in the baptismal service V 
What did the words omitted imply ? ^Yhat reason have you for thinking 
them wrong ? What is the difference between a priest and a minister V an 
altar and a communion-table? What is this church's view of the Scrip- 
tures ? How does this differ from the High Church view ? What is its doc- 
trine of the Church ? of Episcopacy ? How do these vary from the High 
Church doctrine ? What does it condemn in the Eucharist ? Why 2 What 
is the ecclesiastical position of the Reformed Episcopalians V Who were the 
Puritans ? What sects came from them V What is their organization ? 
How does it differ in theory from that of Episcopalians ? Wherein can 
we sympathize with the Reformed Episcopalians ? Wherein must we differ ? 
What is the general impression they make on you ? What is likely to be 
their future ? 

REFERENCES. 

Schaff, vol. i. pp. 665-668: the Articles are in vol. iii. pp. 814-827. 
What do Be formed Episcopalians believe ? by Bishop Cheney. See also 
their journals of the Councils, and published sermons and tracts ; Why 
I became a Reformed Episcopalian, by Bishop Xicholson. The Memoirs 
and Letters of George David Cummins gives an inside view of the origin of 
the church. 



5. THE PRESBYTERIANS. 

Speak thou the things which become sound doctrine. — Titus ii. 1. 

Name. — The name Presbyterian is derived from the Greek 
word Presbufero*. which means elder : and is applied in the Xew 
Testament (as in Acts xiv. 23) to those who presided over the 
2hurches. The word episcopal, or overseer, is also used (as in 
Acts xx. 28). The Episcopalian maintains that the latter desig- 
nates a higher officer, whom he calls a bishop. The Presbyterian 
maintains that it is but another name for the same officer (Titus i. 
5. 7), and therefore declines to recognize a third order of cler_ry 
above elders and deacons. A Presbyterian therefore is one who 
believes, first, that the highest officer in the church is the presby- 
ter or elder; and secondly, that the government of the church 
should rest, not in the bishop, as in Episcopacy, nor in the sepa- 



100 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

rate congregation, as in Congregational churches, but in repre- 
sentative bodies of presbyters. 

History. — Presbyterianism as a form of church government 
existed somewhat indefinitely in the earlier years of the Continen- 
tal Reformation, but it took clear shape in the Institutes of John 
Calvin. His purpose was to oppose to the closely organized 
Roman Catholic Church, which rested on tradition, an equally 
strong organization based on Scripture. It proved of immense 
service. It became the polity of the Huguenots, and largely of 
the Dutch, Poles, and the provinces of the Rhine, rivalling and 
often combating; Lutheranism. It was the form of government 
under which the best stand was made by Protestantism against 
Romanism, — as in Switzerland, Holland, and Scotland. 

As a sect, its most remarkable history and influence was in 
Scotland, where its champion was John Knox. It became to that 
country what Episcopalianism was in England, — the rallying 
point of the nation against the ecclesiastical and political tyranny 
of Rome. In 1560 it became the Church of the kingdom; equally 
hostile to Catholicism, which it made punishable by death, and to 
Protestant dissenters. In 1578, in its Second Book of Discipline, 
it established the graded series of church courts now generally 
held. The organization of these proved of great service in con- 
centrating and training the middle class in their contest with the 
nobility. A long struggle with the crown led to the overthrow of 
Presbyterianism and the virtual establishment of Episcopacy in 
Scotland by Charles I. The resistance rose to a climax in 1638, 
when the " Covenant," or solemn agreement of the Scotch people 
to oppose Prelacy to the death, was signed amid great and univer- 
versal excitement, first in the churchyard of the Grey Friars at 
Edinburgh, then everywhere else in the kingdom. Presbyterian- 
ism was restored, and Scotland faced Charles with a powerful 
army. In 1643, the aid of the Scotch Presbyterians having been 
sought by the English Parliamentary party in revolt against 
Charles, the " Solemn League and Covenant " was signed between 
the two, who bound themselves to strive to "bring the churches of 
God in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uni- 
formity of religion. ,, The execution of this design was entrusted 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 101 

in England to the " Assembly of Divines at Westminster," which 
met in the Abbey, July 1, 1643. This body the Presbyterians con- 
trolled ; and the creed drawn up by it, the famous " Westminster 
Confession," became the standard of Presbyterianism in general, 
and so remains to-day. In June, 1647, Presbyterianism was made 
the national religion of England, as it was of Scotland, though the 
sudden rise of the Independents, or Congregationalists, to power 
under Cromwell overthrew its supremacy. At the Restoration, 
under Charles II., Presbyterianism was suppressed both in Scot- 
land and in England, Episcopacy becoming the national church. 
The struggle of the " Covenanters " against the persecution that 
followed is one of the noblest chapters in history. In England 
the Presbyterians form to-day one of the smaller " dissenting " 
bodies. After the Revolution of 1688 Presbyterianism was quietly 
restored in Scotland, where it remains to-day as the Established 
Church. But the old spirit of jealousy of the civil power survived 
and led to many divisions. In 1733 Ebenezer Erskine led a seces- 
sion on behalf of the right of the congregations to reject an un- 
acceptable minister sent by the Presbytery, and formed the 
"Associate Synod." This divided in 1747 into " Burgher " and 
" Anti-burgher " synods on the question of an oath required by 
certain cities. From the latter split off the " Constitutional Asso- 
ciate Presbytery," and from the former the "Original Burgher 
Synod." Meantime the "Presbytery of Relief " had in 1752 
divided from the main body on the same general principle, but 
united in 1847 with the Burghers and Anti-burghers into the 
" United Presbyterian Church." But in 1843 a most enthusiastic 
rebellion against the main church was led by Drs. Chalmers, 
Guthrie, and Candlish, by which nearly one third of the ministers 
gave up their manses and livings, and formed the " Free Church 
of Scotland " on the right of the congregation to choose its own 
mmister without control of the State or patron. It speedily pro- 
vided for its own support by raising large sustentation and build- 
ing funds, and is a prosperous body. But in 1874 the Established 
Church gave up patronage and control of pastorates, and has 
grown rapidly. A Book of Common Order, or liturgy, has been 
compiled, and organs and hymns admitted. There is much liber- 



102 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

ality of doctrine, shown especially by the " Scotch Sermons " 
published in 1880. 

In the United States. — The first Presbyterian churches were 
founded by the Huguenots, but of these only one, in Charleston, 
S. C, remains. Large immigrations from England, Scotland, Ire- 
land, Holland, and Germany followed. The first Presbytery, how- 
ever, was not organized till 1706, in Philadelphia, and the first 
Synod till 1729. A division rose early between the " Old Side " 
and the " New Side," nominally on the question of revivals, but 
really upon larger questions of progressive doctrine ; and this divi- 
sion, like that upon State interference in Scotland, has run through 
Presbyterian history in this country. Daring the Revolution the 
Presbyterians were, as ever, strongly on the side of freedom. In 
the early part of this century, they grew rapidly, but the old con- 
troversies assumed a more definite shape in the dispute as to 
whether the atonement was for all men or only for the elect ; and 
in 1837 the denomination split into Old and New School, and was 
not united again till 1869. A still older secession was that of the 
Cumberland Presbyterians, who, having been cut off for intro- 
ducing into their churches during a revival a number of minis- 
ters not well educated nor willing to subscribe to the extreme 
doctrines of the Confession, formed a body which still continues 
separate, and has become very large. They revised the West- 
minster Confession, holding milder views on predestination, and 
denying unconditional election and infant damnation. The Scotch 
divisions have also been perpetuated in this country, though they 
have no application here. In 1858 the southern churches of the 
New School seceded on the question of slavery, forming the 
" United Synod ;" and in 1861 the southern section of the Old 
School followed, joining the " United Synod" in 1865, and forming 
" the Presbyterian Church in the United States." 

Doctrines. — The Presbyterians hold, on the whole, the doc- 
trines as well as the church government which were formulated 
by John Calvin, and by him made the standing-ground against 
Romanism. 

These doctrines were restated in the Westminster Confession, 
which is the standard of all the main bodies of Presbyterians, 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 103 

and in the " Larger " and " Shorter Westminster Catechisms." 
The American churches, however, omit those passages which re- 
late to the union of Church and State, limiting the duty of the 
latter to protection of all denominations alike. 

The first point to be noticed in Presbyterianism is its frank and 
full declaration of the supremacy of Scripture as authority for all 
belief : " All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, 
nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to 
be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly pro- 
pounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other that not 
only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary 
means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them " 
(Westm. Conf., chap. i. sect. vii.). Herein the Presbyterians lift 
the standard of Protestantism as against the Catholic doctrine of 
tradition and the right of the Church to be the sole interpreter, 
more firmly than the Lutherans and the Episcopalians. Yet the 
emphasis laid upon the value of the Westminster Confession, and 
the obligation upon all the clergy to sign it, seem practically to 
bring back the old principle, and to betray an unwillingness to 
leave the Bible to " the use of the ordinary means." Yet the 
Bible remains as court of final appeal. 

Presbyterians hold to the Protestant distinction between the 
visible and the invisible Church, all parts of the former being 
u subject to mixture and error." Yet out of the visible Church 
" there is no ordinary possibility of salvation." Calvin strove to 
make the Presbyterian Church the established Church at Geneva, 
and this was the ideal of the Church in Scotland. The different 
position of the Presbyterians in America seems to mark a great 
change in this doctrine. 

As in Presbyterianism we leave entirely behind the idea of 
supreme Church authority, so we leave the idea of the sacraments 
as material channels of supernatural grace. Both consubstantia- 
tion and transubstantiation in the Eucharist are denied. Christ 
is present only spiritually, " the body and blood of Christ being 
not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine, 
yet as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in 
that ordinance as the elements themselves are to the outward 



104 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

senses." Unworthy persons do not receive, therefore, the essen- 
tial element in the ordinance (Westm. Conf., chap. xxix. sect. 
vii.). Baptism is "a sign and seal of the covenant of grace," but 
in itself conveys no grace. 

Another new, and though minor yet practically important, doc- 
trine which the Presbyterians brought in is that of the Sabbath. 
The Catholics, Lutherans, and Anglicans, while insisting on Sun- 
day as a day of rest, did not insist upon the cessation of all 
pleasure. Nor did Calvin himself. It is to the Presbyterians 
that we owe what is called " the Puritan Sabbath." 

The essential doctrine of Presbyterianism is the absolute and 
unquestionable sovereignty of God, which, though just and loving, 
is above the comprehension of the human intellect, as it is beyond 
the influence of human character. The Confession must be read 
to show how thoroughly this doctrine is worked out. It is best 
known under the form of " the five points of Calvinism." 

1. Total Depravity. "From this original corruption [that of 
our first parents after the Fall], whereby we are utterly indis- 
posed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined 
to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions " (Westm. Conf., 
chap. vi.). 

2. Unconditional Election. Out of the universal wreck, 
though all souls deserve to perish, God determines to save some> 
but irrespective of their own acts or merits. " By the decree of 
God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels 
are predestinated unto everlasting life and others foreordained 
unto everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predesti- 
nated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably de- 
signed ; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot 
be increased or diminished. Those of mankind that are predes- 
tinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was 
laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the 
secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen in 
Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and 
love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or persever- 
ance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as 
conditions, or causes moving him thereunto ; and all to the praise 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 105 

of His glorious grace The rest of mankind God was pleased, 
according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby 
He extendeth or withholdeth mercy as He pleaseth, to pass by, and 
to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise 
of His glorious justice." (Westin. Conf., chap. iii. sect. iii. v. 
and vii.). The latter part of this passage Presbyterians call the 
doctrine of "pretention," or passing by; and distinguish be- 
tween it and " reprobation," or fixing the non-elect in their sin. 
The Confession also asserts the freedom of the human will, leav- 
ing the apparent contradiction between it and divine sovereignty 
unsolved, as beyond the reach of the human intellect. 

3. Particular Atonement. The sacrifice of Christ is not for all 
men, but only for those who are chosen, and who therefore have 
received as a gift the very faith by which the merits of Christ 
can be appropriated. 

4. Effectual Grace. Those who are chosen are saved, not by 
anything they may do for themselves, but by the power of God 
working in them "to will and to do of His own good pleasure." 
" Yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His 
grace" (Westm. Conf., chap. x.). 

5. The Perseverance of the Saints, — that is, the preservation of 
the elect to the end. " They whom God hath accepted in His 
Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither 
totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace ; but shall 
certainly persevere therein to the end > and be eternally saved " 
(Westm. Conf., chap. xvii.). 

Whether the Confession teaches the damnation of non-elect 
infants and heathen is debated by many Presbyterians, but the 
prevalent belief in earlier days would seem to confirm the charge 
that it does so teach. "Elect infants, dying in infancy, are 
regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit. ... So are 
all other elect persons, who are incapable of being called out- 
wardly by the ministry of the Word. Others, not elected, . . . 
cannot be save(J; . . . and to assert that they may is very per- 
nicious and to be detested" (Westm. Conf., chap. x.). 

Jn other points, as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, eternal 
punishment and reward, etc., the Presbyterians substantially hold 
the faith common to Evangelical Christians. 



106 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

Government. —A complete church has three classes of officers, 
— the teaching elder, or pastor ; the ruling elders, who with the 
pastor constitute the "church session," to govern the congregation ; 
and the deacons, who manage the financial affairs. The churches 
in a certain district unite informing a " presbytery," which is 
made up of the pastor and one ruling elder from each church 
session. A number of adjacent presbyteries unite to form a 
'* synod," to which are sent all the ministers and one ruling elder 
from each session within the region covered by the presbyteries. 
The highest court is the " General Assembly," to which the 
presbyteries elect an equal number of ministers and ruling elders 
as delegates. These bodies form a series of courts for the adjust- 
ment of all difficulties and the enactment of all needed regula- 
tions, appeal being made from lower to higher as in the secular 
courts. The result is a very compact and effective organization. 

Statistics. — There are said to be over 20,000,000 Presby- 
terians (3,500,000 communicants) in the world, including, how- 
ever, the " Reformed" churches. The largest number in any 
European country is in Scotland, — 3,600,000. In the United 
States there are (1890) 1,229,000 communicants and (estimated) 
3,500,000 adherents. Of these 775,903 communicants (30 synods, 
213 presbyteries, 6,894 churches) are in the Northern body, 
168,971 in the Southern, 163,216 in the Cumberland, and 103,921 
in the United. 



Many Unitarian churches in England are related to the Presby- 
terians as most of those of New England are to the Cons^rega- 
tionahsts. It was from them that our churches were developed, 
sometimes gradually, sometimes suddenly and with controversy. 
Yet no branch of Protestantism seems further away from us than 
the Presbyterians. They are compactly organized, and their 
churches are ruled by higher bodies ; while ours are very loosely 
attached to one another, and would resent any interference with 
their congregational independence. We are descended from the 
side of Cromwell in the great division of the seventeenth century. 
Again, the Presbyterians have the most systematic and authorita- 
tive form of faith among Protestants, while we steadfastly refuse 
to formulate our belief at all Doubtless many of us have envied 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 107 

them their " body of divinity," and their unity upon it ; but the 
revision movement of 1889 has brought to light a long-hidden and 
extensive rebellion against the most extreme doctrines of the 
Confession, and the fact that they have been lying unused in 
many a church It is precisely this temptation to insincerity, 
this hindrance to freedom of expression if not of thought, which 
Unitarians dread when tempted to adopt a creed. It is needless 
to add that in the doctrines themselves we stand far away from 
the Presbyterians, they emphasizing the sovereignty of God, we 
the dignity of man. 

Yet they deserve well of Protestants for their frank proclama- 
tion of the Scriptures as the sole standard of belief. Neither 
the Lutherans nor the Church of England did this unreservedly. 
The Presbyterians are thus the " color-guard " of Protestantism. 
And they deserve the respect of thoughtful people for their 
equally frank and sturdy facing of the facts of human life. The 
truth in the doctrine of predestination has already been pointed 
out (p. 35). Calvin and modern science are at one here so far 
as this world is concerned. And, finally, the Presbyterians de- 
serve the gratitude of all lovers of freedom for the courage and 
persistence with which they faced both the Roman Church and 
the Church of England, in the interests not only of religion, but 
of political liberty. They represented the people in their strug- 
gle with nobles and kings. It was from them that the Puritans 
of Massachusetts Bay came, and though they soon became con- 
gregational in polity, the doctrines of Presbyterianism remained 
long in power, and should be remembered as the doctrines of 
those who determined the destiny of the New World. 



QUESTIONS. 

What does the word "Presbyterian " mean ? How does a Presbyterian 
differ in polity from an Episcopalian ? from a Congregationalist ? From 
whom did Presbyterianism take shape ? Tell what you know of him. 
What was his purpose ? How far did he succeed ? Where was Presbyte- 
rianism most successful V How did it stand politically ? What was the 
"League and Covenant "? Why were the Presbyterians hostile to Crom- 
well ? What do you know of the Covenanters ? What secessions have 
happened? What is the ,k Free Church of Scotland " ? How does it differ 
from the Established Church ? Who brought Presbyterianism to this 
country V What division runs through its history here ? What were " Old 
School" and "Xew School" ? Who are the Cumberland Presbyterians ? 

By whom were the Presbyterian doctrines formulated ? In what docu- 
ments are they contained V Why is the Confession called the u Westmin- 



108 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

ster " ? What do the American churches omit? What is the Presbyterian 
ground as to Scripture ? Why is it important to notice this ? How do 
Presbyterians regard their Confession ? Is there any inconsistency here V 
What difference does it make whether the Westminster Assembly or the 
Vatican Council be made the authority as to what Scripture teaches ? What 
do Presbyterians hold as to the Church ? Are they anywhere the Estab- 
lished Church ? What do they believe as to the sacraments ? How does this 
differ from Romanism ? from Anglicanism ? What is their idea of the 
Sabbath ? How does this differ from the Roman Catholic idea ? from the 
Jewish ? Ought we to say Sabbath or Sunday ? What is the essential 
doctrine of Presbyterianism ? Name " the five points of Calvinism." Do 
you think that anybody is utterly unable to do any good? Is there a 
distinction between a sinful disposition and sinful acts ? How deep does 
sin go ? What is the difference between predestination and pretention ? 
Does the latter word really relieve God from blame for eternal damnation ? 
How far is your faith the result of your own effort ? Is it not to some extent 
the gift of God ? Is particular atonement just ? Would a universal atone- 
ment be just ? What is " effectual grace " ? What does the word " grace " 
mean ? How does it differ from partiality V Is not God, then, a "respecter 
of persons"? What does "the perseverance of the saints" mean? As 
far as you can see, do all saints persevere to the end ? Do \ r ou think that 
the Confession teaches the damnation of infants ? Would it be any more 
unjust to damn infants than adults who cannot help themselves? Does not 
the doctrine of predestination necessarily involve both ? 

How are Unitarians related to Presbyterians? How do we differ from 
them in government ? in the matter of a creed ? What objection to a creed 
appears in their recent history? On what points is revision demanded? 
What have they done for Protestantism ? for the philosophy of life ? for 
political freedom ? for Massachusetts and America ? 

REFERENCES. 

For history, Schaff, vol. i. pp. 669-813; Green, Short History of the 
English People, chap, viii.; Encyclopaedia Bntannica, article "Presbyte- 
rianism;" McClintock and Strong; Lives of Calvin and Knox. On Calvin, 
see Schaff, vol. i. pp. 421-467; Merle d'Aubigne's History of the Reforma- 
tion in the Time of Calvin, vol. vi. chaps. 1-15.; A, P. Stanley's Lectures 
on the History of the Church of Scotland, For a graphic account of the 
Disruption of 1843, see Life of ZM Guthrie and that of Dr. Chalmers. 
On the history in various countries, see Drysdale's History of the Presby 
teHans in England; A. F. Mitchell's The Westminster Assembly: Its 
History and Standards; NeaPs History of the Puritans; Carlyle's Crom- 
well; C. A. Briggs's American Presbyterianism; E. H. Gillett's History of 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 109 

the Presbyterian Church ; L. W. Bacon's Genesis of the New England 
Churches; and the histories of Palfrey and Bancroft. For doctrine, Schaff 
as above; also vol. iii. pp. 600-676, where the Westminster Confession and 
Catechism are given in full. Dr. C A. Briggs, in Whither, maintains 
that the later Presbyterians have departed from the Confession, and throws 
much light upon its original meaning. H. B. Smith's Christian Theology , 
C- Hodge's Systematic Theology, 3 vols., and his Discussions in Church 
Polity ; Thomas Witherovv's Which is the Apostolic Church ; Froude's 
"Calvinism," in Sho?*t Studies, vol. i. ; S. J. Barrows's The Doom of the 
Majority; Michael Wigglesworth's The Day of Doom; and the waitings of 
Jonathan Edwards show what New England Calvinism was. 



6. THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

The churches of Christ salute you. — Rom. xvi. 16. 

Name. — A Congregationalist is one who believes that every 
congregation should govern itself, instead of being governed by 
bishops, as the Episcopalians are, or by a series of courts, as the 
Presbyterians are. In this wider sense the name belongs also to 
Baptists, Unitarians, and other Sects; but it is usually assigned 
to and claimed by the denomination which first made the con- 
gregational principle its characteristic. As the first Unitarian 
churches in Xew England were mainly of this denomination, 
many of them retain the name " Congregational," to which, as 
being still self-governed, they are strictly entitled. The Trinita- 
rian Congregationalists in Massachusetts are popularly called 
"the Orthodox," as holding to the old creeds. The Conoreo-a- 
tionalists of England, where the denomination began, called them- 
selves "Independents" until this century, but now belong to the 
k< Congregational Union of England and Wales." 

History. — The Independent principle marked the third step 
in the revolt from Roman Catholicism in the English Reforma- 
tion, the Anglican being the first, and the Presbyterian the 
second. Of the Puritan party, who wished to preserve the 
national Church, but to purify it still further from the errors of 
Rome, rejecting all rites, vestures, festivals, etc., not expressly 



110 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

authorized by Scripture, some gave up their demands in face of 
the Church's stern resistance, but others began to ask themselves 
what authority the Church, or anybody but Christ, had to control 
the worship of any one. This led to withdrawal, not only from 
the Church of England, but from its first offshoot, the Pres- 
byterian Church, which also claimed authority over the single 
congregation. The first Independent church was founded at 
Norwich, in 1580, by Robert Browne. It was at once assailed 
by State persecution and popular ridicule, and called " Separa- 
tist," or " Brownist." It soon found itself obliged to leave the 
country, and went to Middleburg, in Zealand, but there was 
broken by poverty and internal dissensions ; and its people 
returned to England, Browne joining the Church of England 
again. 

More successful and creditable was the work of Henry Barrowe 
and John Greenwood, who founded a church in London, in 1592. 
They were both put to death the following year, but the church 
removed to Amsterdam. This church differed from Browne's 
in not being governed directly by congregational vote, but by the 
board, or " Session," of elders, including pastor and teacher, 
which it first chose, and then obeyed. So far it followed the 
Presbyterians, but there stopped, acknowledging no higher au- 
thority. This form of government, sometimes called " Barrow- 
ism," became the model of the Congregational churches for a 
long time, both in England and in New England. 

More celebrated and permanent was the church gathered at 
Scrooby, England, and emigrating first to Amsterdam, then to 
Leyden. From the Leyden church, under John Robinson, came 
the permanent Congregationalism both of England and of New 
England. In 1616 Henry Jacob returned to London and founded 
there the first Independent church that remained alive in Eng- 
land. There adherents multiplied fast, and under Cromwell the 
Independents became masters of England. In 1658 the Savoy 
Council was held in London, which virtually adopted the West- 
minster Confession, except as to church government. At the Res- 
toration the Independents were roughly handled by Charles II., 
and by the " Act of Uniformity " in 1662. Two thousand minis- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. Ill 

ters were deprived of their livings, and further oppressed. Upon 
the site of the old Fleet Prison, where some were confined, their 
descendants have built a Memorial Hall and Library. After the 
Revolution of 1688 the denomination obtained toleration, and is 
now one of the most influential in the kingdom. 

From Leyden went also those "Pilgrim Fathers," under Elder 
Brewster and Deacon Carver, who founded the church in Ply- 
mouth in the Xew World. They were Barrowists, but of a mild 
type. 

But American Congregationalism in the main is descended 
from churches which at first hated Independency, — those of 
Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut. From 1620 to 1640 it is 
estimated that twenty-two thousand Puritans came to Xew Eng- 
land on account of persecution. They did not mean to leave 
the " Mother Church," but only to change some of her usages. 
But in the new land and under Plymouth influence they speedily 
became self-governing, and in time most sturdy opponents of the 
Church of England. At the first Synod, in Cambridge, Mass., 
1648, the Barrowe principle was adopted. Gradually, however, 
the authoritv of the elders decreased, and the congregation 
acquired full power, which it still holds. 

Congregationalism was virtually the " established church " of 
New England. In the beginning church and town were but the 
same community in different capacities. All voters were church 
members, and all adult male church members were voters. Money 
was raised by taxation for church expenses, as for other town 
needs. As the population grew diverse in religious belief, it was 
at first arranged that all should be taxed to support the Congre- 
gational Church who could not prove that they supported any 
other; and finally, but not till 1833 in Massachusetts, all church 
taxes were remitted, and the Congregationalists became before 
the law but one sect among many. The suffrage question was 
more troublesome. For many reasons the proportion of church 
members to the male population decreased, till it was only one 
fifth. To meet this difficulty, the " Half-way Covenant " was 
arranged in 1662, by which persons of discreet lives were ad- 
mitted to all the privileges of the church except that of coming 



112 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

to the Lord's Supper, on simply giving public assent to the 
covenant of the church, instead of, as before, being required to 
give proofs of " regeneration." In time unconverted persons 
were received at communion also. Against the latter, and indeed 
against what he deemed the general decline of religious interest, 
Jonathan Edwards protested; and about 1740, under his lead and 
that of Whiten" eld, the English preacher, a revival called " The 
Great Awakening " swept over New England, followed by 
reaction, and by theological divisions which have never been 
healed. Arminianism, or the assertion of the freedom of the will 
as against predestination, largely replaced Calvinism; and a lib- 
eral movement began, culminating in the early part of this cen- 
tury in the Unitarian defection, which took away most of the 
older churches in Massachusetts, including the one in Plymouth 
and the "First" churches in Boston, Salem, Dorchester, Kox- 
bury, and other large places, and obtained control of Harvard 
College. In consequence of the latter fact, Andover Theological 
Seminary was established, in 1808, which has of late years led in 
the heresy of " future probation." 

The growth of Congregationalism in this country was much 
hindered by the " Plan of Union " with the Presbyterians in 
evangelizing the newly opened West. The adherents of the two 
bodies in any town were to unite in one church, choosing which 
body they were to affiliate with, and when becoming Congrega- 
tionalist, were allowed a certain relation with the Presbyterian 
Synods. But this was found more useful to the latter than to the 
former; and in 1852 the "plan" was abandoned, the Congre- 
gationalists having, it was estimated, lost some two thousand 
churches. Since then the denomination has been increasingly 
active in home missionary work, and has grown in numbers, 
though not in proportion to the population. The American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was established 
in 1810. 

Government. — The Congreo-ationalists are not a church, as 
the Episcopalians and Presbyterians are, but are gathered into 
churches, each sufficient unto itself, and denying the right of any 
other earthly authority to control it. They believe that this was 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 113 

the polity of the churches mentioned in the New Testament, and 
that only two classes of church officers are there mentioned, — 
the pastors, or elders, and the deacons. 

The "church" is the assembly of believers around a "cove- 
nant," or " declaration of faith," to which they agree. There is 
usually, but not always, associated with the church another body, 
called the " society," commonly made up from the attendants 
upon public worship, whether they are members of the church or 
not. The society ordinarily owns the ecclesiastical property, and 
pays the expenses of public worship. Neither baptism nor attend- 
ance upon communion is requisite to membership, nor any pro- 
fession of belief. It represents to-day the citizens of the old town 
system, who were not church members, but were taxed to support 
the church, and thus had a right to its public services. The 
pastor of the church is the minister of the society, and the two 
bodies unite in settling him. The deacons are officers of the 
church, assist at the communion service, and take charge of the 
poor-funds. Members are admitted to the church by vote, — 
having previously appeared before an examining committee, who 
require evidence of their conversion, — and by publicly entering 
into covenant with the church, having received baptism, and 
commonly also by a public profession of belief. 

Though the churches are thus independent of one another's 
control, they have a fellowship of sympathy, which they often 
use to ask advice, — as in settling or dismissing a pastor. Then 
a " council " is called of ministers and delegates, either chosen at 
will or from a definite circle of churches, by whose decision the 
church commonly abides. It may, however, act in every case 
alone ; and other churches, if disapproving, can only withdraw 
their fellowship and countenance. It is customary, when mem- 
bers remove, to give them letters to any other church in the 
fellowship. .No letters, however, are given to unevangelical 
churches. 

The churches of a district are usually united into a Conference, 
and the Conferences of each State into State Conferences. The 
National Council, meeting tri-ennially, is representative of all 
the churches in the country, each Conference sending a delegate 

8 



114 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

for every ten churches, and each State Conference one for each 
ten thousand communicants, the delegates being half lay, half 
clerical. These bodies, however, are all merely deliberative and 
advisory, all approach to control being jealously watched and 
resisted. 

Doctrine. — By the fundamental principle of Congregation- 
alism there can be no creed binding upon all churches. There is 
no body with power to make one. Each church makes its own. 
There is therefore more or less diversity of belief within certain 
limits, which makes a general statement somewhat difficult. 

At first, Congregation alists were as strictly Calvinistic as the 
Presbyterians. The Cambridge Synod, in 1648, and the Savoy 
Conference, in 1658, substantially adopted the Westminster Con- 
fession. The " Shorter Catechism " and Wigglesworth's " Day of 
Doom " were text-books in New England schools. But on both 
sides of the Atlantic the original doctrines have been somewhat 
modified. 

The " Statement of Doctrine " ecommended in 1883 by a com- 
mission appointed by the National Council is the most prominent 
recent utterance. It has been said to give " the low-water mark 
of Congregational belief ; " that is, no fuller statement could 
receive the assent of all its compilers, who represented the differ- 
ent win^s of the denomination. The Bible is received as author- 
ity for teaching and conduct, as being "the record of God's 
revelation of Himself in the work of redemption," and "written 
by men under the special guidance of the Holy Spirit." The 
Trinity is affirmed substantially in terms of the Nicene Creed. 
" III. We believe . . . that our first parents by disobedience fell 
under the righteous condemnation of God ; and that all men are 
so alienated from God that there is no salvation from the guilt 
and power of sin except by God's redeeming grace. . . . VI. We 
believe that the love of God to sinful men has found its highest 
expression in the redemptive work of His Son ; who became man, 
uniting his divine nature with our human nature in one person ; 
. , . whose sacrifice of himself for the sins of the world declares 
the righteousness of God, and is the sole and sufficient ground 
of forgiveness and of reconciliation with Him. VII. We believe 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 115 

that Jesus Christ . . . sends the Holy Spirit to convict [men] of 
sin, and to lead them to repentance and faith; and that those 
who through renewing grace turn to righteousness, and trust in 
Jesus Christ as their Redeemer, receive for his sake the forgive- 
ness of their sins, and are made the children of God. VIII. We 
believe that those who are thus regenerated and justified grow in 
sanctified character through fellowship with Christ, the indwelling 
of the Holy Spirit, and obedience to the truth ; that a holy life 
is the fruit and evidence of saving faith ; and that the believer's 
hope of continuance in such a life is in the preserving grace cf 
God. IX. That to Jesus Christ . . . Christians are directly 
responsible in faith and conduct ; and that to him all have im- 
mediate access without mediatorial or priestly intervention. . . . 
We believe ... in Baptism, to be administered to believers and 
their children as the sign of cleansing from sin, of union to 
Christ, and of the impartation of the Holy Spirit; and the Lord's 
Supper as a symbol of his atoning death, a seal of its efficacy, 
and a means whereby he confirms and strengthens the spiritual 
union and communion of believers with himself. XII. In a final 
judgment, the issues of which are everlasting punishment and 
everlasting life." To this Statement a " Confession of Faith " is 
added, in which the person to be admitted into the church states 
his belief in the words of the Apostles' Creed. 

Statistics ("Year Book," 1890). — The Congregationalists 
have in the United States 4,689 churches, the largest numbers 
being in Massachusetts (55 7), Michigan, Connecticut, New York, 
and Iowa, — very few in the South; 4,408 ministers; and 491,985 
members. There are also 580,672 pupils in Sunday-schools. 
The benevolent contributions were $2,398,037. The home 
expenses were about $5,000,000. 

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 
spent about $670,000, and have 472 missionaries and assistants. 
There are also a College and Education Society, expending 
$110,000; the American Congregational Union, about the same 
amount for building churches and parsonages ; the American 
Home Missionary Society, about $512,000. The American Mis- 
sionary Association spends $323,000, mainly upon colored people 



116 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

in the South ; a Sunday-School and Publishing Society, about 
$47,000, — the New West Education Commission spending on the 
children and youth of Utah and adjacent States and Territories 
$78,000. There are also Women's Boards for foreign and home 
missionary work. 

The Congregationalists have 7 Theological Schools (notably 
Andover, Oberlin, and Yale), with 490 students; and a large 
number of colleges and universities were founded either wholly 
or mainly by them. 



The Congregationalists are especially interesting to Unitarians as 
being the mother sect from which their own was born, or consid- 
ered in another and truer way, — since many Unitarian churches 
are older than any Congregational churches in this country, — as 
brothers of the same family, though we are not allowed by them 
to sit around the same table or live under the same roof. Yet 
the two bodies still have some institutions in common, — as the 
funds for supporting aged clergymen or their widows \ and as 
experience and advancing thought mellow the former doctrines 
of the Trinitarians, the distance between the more liberal among 
them and the more conservative among the Unitarians has les- 
sened. It is to the Congregationalists that we owe our democratic 
form of church government ; our free order of worship ; our love 
of an educated ministry, on which the Puritans so nobly insisted; 
and indeed, through the doctrinal discussions which they loved 
and stimulated, that loyalty to truth and that liberal and progres- 
sive tendency which are so prominent among us. 

In a larger sense, we are as Americans indebted to them for 
the impetus which they gave to education at the beginning of 
their settlement in New England, and which has always marked 
that section and all other sections of the country which it has 
influenced. And the republican form of government is due in no 
small degree to the free and representative character of their 
churches and councils. The prayer meeting, with its freedom of 
speech to all, was the father of the town meeting. The Revo- 
lution was largely due to the influence of the Congregational 
ministers, in marked contrast to the Toryism of the Episcopalians. 

Our divergence from their doctrines, though greater in appear- 
ance than in reality, and differing very much according to the 
church or to the writer with which we compare ourselves, is still 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 117 

very great, and until they change much faster than they have, is 
irreconcilable. The step which our fathers took, like that of the 
Reformers three centuries before, was greater than they knew. 
Our name emphasizes one of the least of our differences. The 
doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most harmless of the older 
tenets. Dr. Channing's sermon on " The Moral Influence of 
Calvinism " opens the real guff between the two parties. So long 
as the Congregationalists hold to a helpless human nature, a vica- 
rious atonement, and eternal punishment for temporal sins, 
our position and our mission must be separate from theirs. The 
Andover view of a possible extension of probation into the next 
life, so that heathen and others who have not had a fair chance 
to receive the Gospel here shall have it hereafter, though held 
by a large section of the denomination, is not yet dominant ; and 
if it were, though it mio;ht brin^ other changes in doctrine in its 

"COO o 

train, it would leave much divergence unchanged. Xot until they 
give fuller and franker recognition to the rights of reason and 
conscience as authority for truth, as against a mere textual use 
of the Bible, can the two bodies come together again. Neverthe- 
less, the growing respect and love of each for the other must 
be emphasized, with the consciousness of a common ancestry and 
of common traditions, which compel to a common love of truth 
and duty. 

QUESTIONS. 

What does " Congregationalist " mean? Who else are entitled to the 
name ? Are Unitarians ? Why ? What relation do the Congregationalists 
hold to the Presbyterians ? to the Episcopalians ? to the Puritans ? What 
were they first called ? Wh}- ? What is the difference between a Brownist 
and a Barrowist ? Trace the fortunes of the Scrooby congregation. When 
were the Independents masters of England ? Recall what you know of 
Cromwell. What was the Savoy Confession? the Act of Uniformity? 
When did the Independents get toleration in England? What was the 
difference between the u Pilgrims" and the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay 
in intention ? in church government? When did the latter change, and 
how ? What was the relation of Church and State in Massachusets ? 
When did this cease? By what steps? What was the " Half-way Cove- 
nant" ? What did Jonathan Edwards do? What was the consequence? 
What is Anninianism ? What success had Unitarianism ? What was the 
u Plan of Union " ? its result ? 

How do Congregationalists differ from Episcopalians in church govern- 
ment ? from Presbyterians ? What is their distinction between "church " 
and "society"? What was the origin of it? What are deacons? How 
are members admitted ? What is the relation of churches to each other ? 



118 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

How much authority has a council ? Can a letter to a Unitarian church be 
obtained from a Congregational church? What is the National Council? 
What authority has it ? 

Have Congregationalists a common creed ? Why ? What was their 
original doctrine ? What is the best statement of their present belief V Is 
there any difference between a revelation and the record of a revelation ? 
What is their doctrine of God ? What do you think of their doctrine of 
the fall of man ? of his condition ? What is their belief about Jesus V What 
is implied in the word " sole " ? Is not the question of predestination 
evaded in Article VII. V What truth or fallacy can you find in Article VIII.? 
What relation of faith and works is stated there ? Can a believer fall from 
grace, according to this ? What is the bearing of Article IX. on the Catholic 
Church ? on Presbyterian ism ? What is the doctrine of the sacraments ? 
Compare it with the Catholic and Lutheran. What is the view of the Last 
Judgment ? Do you think this statement of faith is very definite ? Why ? 

What is the relation of the Congregationalists to the Unitarians ? What 
do we owe to them ? What does America owe to them ? Wherein do we 
still differ from them ? Have you read Channing's sermon? How do you 
like Congregationalists generally ? What great preachers of theirs can you 
think of ? 

REFERENCES. 

The most convenient authority is A Hand-Book of Congregationalism, by 
II. M. Dexter, a condensation of his larger work, Congregationalism : What 
it is, etc. George Punchard's Congregationalism in America from 1629 to 
1879. In Schaff, see vol. i. pp. 820-840; vol. iii. p. 707 (the Savoy Decla- 
ration), p. 910 (the American Creed of 1883). McClintock and Strong; 
Encyclopaedia Britannica, articles "Independents" and "Congregational- 
ism-," Green, Short History, chaps. 7 and 8; Fisher, pp. 611-615; R. W. 
Dale's A Manual of Congregational Principles (in England). The racy 
biographies of John Todd and Lyman Beecher, and Mrs. Stowe's Minis- 
ter's Wooing, Poganuc People, and Oldtown Folks, give pictures of New 
England ministers and church life in the early part of this century. 
Palfrey's History of New England; Sprague's Annals of the American 
Pulpit, vols. i. ii. iii.; George E. Ellis, The Puritan Age in Massachusetts; 
Brooks Adams, The Emancipation of Massachusetts (not good-tempered or 
just, but containing interesting facts) ; J. K. Hosmer, Young Sir Harry 
Vane, Leonard Bacon, Genesis of the New England Churches, emphasizes 
the distinction between "Pilgrim" and "Puritan," giving most of his book 
to the former. John Fiske's The Beginnings of New England is valuable, 
especially for its admirable first chapter. 






A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 119 



7. THE BAPTISTS. 

Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him. 

Col. ii. 12. 

Name. — The word "Baptist" is derived from the Greek 
6a7rrtfo) (baptizo), meaning (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of 
the Xew Testament) " to dip," " to immerge." The name first 
given, though never accepted, was " Anabaptists " (or Again- 
baptists), because they denied the validity of infant baptism, and 
obliged people baptized in infancy to receive the rite again. 

History. — The denial of the validity of infant baptism and 
the insistence upon immersion as a form have probably been held 
by individuals, though not by churches, from the beginning of 
Christian history. They are found in various sects or parties of 
the Church during the Middle Ages, notably the Waldenses; but 
it came into prominence, very soon after Luther had stirred up 
the latent heresies and dissatisfactions of Europe, in the sect 
called the Anabaptists. Unfortunately, the main doctrine became 
mixed with various fanatical and even immoral doctrines, which 
had no real bearing upon it, and for which it was in no way 
responsible. The doctrine foun 1 more worthy support in Zurich 
and among the Mennonites of Holland, who were devout, peace- 
able, and pure people, abstaining from participation in civil gov- 
ernment, and maintaining the right of religious liberty. In fact, 
the first one who ever proclaimed this right was Balthazar 
Hubmaier, one of the original Anabaptists of Germany, who 
was burned at the stake in 1528. 

It was in Holland that the English Independents, or Brownists, 
first came into contact with Anabaptist doctrines; and one of 
their ministers in Amsterdam, the Rev. John Smyth, became a 
convert to them, and formed a new church, part of which came 
to London in 1612. The early history of the sect there is uncer- 
tain ; but it is known that a church existed in 1633, and from 
that time adherents multiplied fast. They were opposed by 
all the sects then in existence, and were persecuted through all 



120 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

the changes of religious control. The Revolution of 1688 gave 
toleration to them, as to all dissenters ; but they soon divided into 
" General Baptists," who believed that the atonement was for all 
men to accept or reject, and " Particular Baptists," who believed 
that it was for the elect alone. The latter is the Baptist sect 
of to-day. The former divided again into " Old Connection," 
who became generally Unitarian, and " New Connection," who 
correspond to what we call Free (Will) Baptists. 

The founder of the denomination in this country was Roger 
Williams, a clergyman of education and prominence in the 
Church of England, who became an Independent, fled to this 
country in 1631, and was pastor of the church in Salem. 
Denying the validity of the royal charter to the colony, and the 
right of the magistrates in matters of religion, he was banished 
by them, went southward through the woods, and founded a 
settlement, which in gratitude he named " Providence." There, 
having become a convert to the Baptist doctrines, he had himself 
immersed by a layman, whom he in turn baptized in the same 
way, with ten others, and then founded in Providence the first 
Baptist church in America, 1638. The sect spread rapidly. In 
Massachusetts it was bitterly persecuted, — partly on mere theo- 
logical grounds, partly because of the persistence of the Bap- 
tists in annoying ways, partly from fear of the effect on the 
attitude of the crown toward the colony. They were at length 
allowed freedom of worship, and in 1833 participated in the 
equality of all sects before the law. In Virginia also they were 
persecuted by the Episcopalians, any man who refused to bring 
his child to " a lawful minister "to be baptized being fined two 
thousand pounds of tobacco. Equality was granted there in 
1785. 

The Baptists originated in the laboring classes of Germany, 
and still have their strength in the middle classes of English and 
American society. Over three fourths of those in this country 
are in the former slave States, and they divide the negroes with 
the Methodists. The largest numbers in any State are in Vir- 
ginia and Georgia, though they are very strong in Massachusetts 
and Rhode Island. They have not in the past been as insistent 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 121 

apon the education of their ministers as the Congregationalists, 
especially in the South. 

Government. — The Baptists are congregational in their 
polity ; that is, every church governs itself, and formulates its 
own creed and covenant, owning no control from any human 
authority, Christ being the head of the Church, and the Bible 
the only source of doctrine. There are associations of churches 
for mutual sympathy and for co-operation in common causes ; but 
congregational independence is jealously guarded. 

Doctrines. — Being congregational in polity, the Baptists can 
have no creed binding upon all churches. Each congregation is 
supposed to draw up its own statement of belief from its own 
study of the Scriptures. Yet few denominatious have greater 
unity in doctrine. The Northern Baptists accept what is called 
the "Xew Hampshire Confession " (1833); while those of the 
South and of England are more attached to the " Philadelphia 
Confession," which appeared first in London in 1677, and was 
adopted early in the last century by the " Philadelphia Associa- 
tion." They are, however, not authoritative statements, and they 
differ little from each other. 

The Baptist doctrine is Calvinistic, and is therefore essentially 
the same as that of the Congregationalists, baptism and its impli- 
cations excepted. The Baptists have, however, kept Calvinism 
far more intact than the Congregationalists. Their peculiar doc- 
trines are: (1) Denial of the validity of infant baptism. The 
ordinance, they affirm, is to be given only on profession of faith 
in Christ, and is therefore meaningless when applied to infants. 
They can find no case of infant baptism in the New Testament. 
(2) Insistence upon immersion as the only valid form of baptism. 
They claim that this was the original form as it was adopted and 
urged by Jesus, and is implied in the language used by Scripture, 
— as in descriptions of baptism (Matt. iii. 16; John hi. 23; Acts 
viii. 38, 39), and in Paul's frequent figure of baptism being a 
burial and resurrection. They baptize either in natural bodies 
of water or in tanks prepared beneath the pulpits of their 
churches. (3) "Close Communion,'* — that is, exclusion from 
the celebration of the Lord's Supper of all such as have not been 



122 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

immersed. This doctrine, however, has during this century been 
given up by many English Baptists. (4) Freedom of worship to 
all. This has, of course, ceased to be a distinctive mark of the 
Baptists, but was so once, and deserves to be still mentioned. 

There are several sects who are Baptists as to baptism, but 
vary on other points. Some of them are mentioned here only 
for convenience, as they have no real connection with the Bap- 
tists. Most numerous are the Freewill Baptists (115,000), who 
began in New Hampshire, in 1780, and now call themselves Free 
Baptists. They are Arminian, — that is, they deny predestina- 
tion and limited atonement, and assert the " free will " of all men 
to accept or reject the terms of salvation, — and hold " open 
communion." The Mennonites (93,000) are of Dutch origin, 
rejecting infant baptism, but using pouring as a form. The 
" Church of God," or " Winebrennarians " (about 30,000), — so 
called from their founder, Rev. John Winebrenner, - — left the 
Lutherans, in 1820, on the question of revivals. They baptize 
by immersion, but are Presbyterian in polity. The " Tunkers " 
100,000) are of German origin, immerse forward instead of 
backward and do it thrice, observe the rite of foot-washing, and 
object to "hireling " ministers and to organs. The " Seventh-Day 
Baptists (9,000) observe Saturday as the Sabbath. The " Six- 
Principle Baptists" (1,450) have for their creed the six points in 
Hebrews vi. 1. They live mostly in Rhode Island. The "Anti- 
Mission " or " Anti-Effort Baptists " (45,000) oppose all mis- 
sionary, Sunday-school, or other efforts for conversion, as inter- 
fering with God's work. The " Christian Baptists " deny the 
Trinity. 

Statistics. — There were in 1890 ("Year Book") 32,588 
"regular" Baptist churches in the United States, with 21,175 
ministers and 3,070,000 members, of whom 2,267,206 were in the 
domain of the Southern Convention, and about equally divided 
between the whites and the negroes. There were 17,696 Sunday- 
schools, with 1,211,696 pupils. The church property is valued at 
over $58,000,000 ; while nearly $7,000,000 were paid for current 
expenses, over $1,000,000 for missions, $228,000 for education, 
and nearly $2,000,000 for building, poor, etc. They have 7 theo- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 123 

logical schools; 31 colleges; 32 seminaries for females, 46 for 
males and coeducation, 1 7 for negroes and Indians. There are 
106 periodicals, including those for Sunday-schools. The foreign 
mission work of the Northern Baptists (279 missionaries, 134,113 
converts) is carried on through the American Baptist Missionary 
Union, with two societies of women; and the home mission work 
by the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, with also two 
women's societies. The Southern Convention has corresponding 
apparatus. 

In Great Britain there are nearly 330,000 Baptist commu- 
nicants; in all Europe, 400,000; in the world, 3,701,882. 



We owe a debt of gratitude to the Baptists for their unflinch- 
ing defence and consistent allowance of strict religious freedom. 
That it is so common now is due in no small degree to their early 
and constant advocacy of it. Their Congregationalism has also 
played its part in the development of free institutions. Their 
stout attack upon infant baptism in the days when it was univer- 
sally a superstitious rite, partaking of the character of magic, 
must also be praised, even by those who now practise that beauti- 
ful rite on rational, symbolic grounds. Their early enthusiasm 
in the foreign missionary movement, dating from 1792, when 
William Carey led in the formation of their missionary society, 
gives them, next to the Catholics and the German Pietists, the 
credit of having been its leaders. 

On the other hand, must we not see in their emphasis upon an 
outward form, as that of baptism, a survival of the Jewish or 
Petrine spirit ? Can we think it in accordance with the spirit of 
Jesus, whatever texts may be insisted upon ? He certainly gave 
baptism no such prominence in his teachings ; and his general 
emphasis upon the inner life, and his general tendency away 
from forms, even from those which he found in use and con- 
tinued to permit, seem thoroughly inconsistent with the Baptist 
position. There should be no doubt, let it be granted, that 
immersion was the form in use in his day ; but even the Catho- 
lic Church, usually so insistent upon primitive ceremonies, has 
changed it to sprinkling or pouring, according to its wise policy 
of conforming to the demands of changing climates and customs 
in non-essential matters. That the Baptists should insist upon 
transferring to cold and icy regions the forms natural only to 
warm ones is a rigor of ritualism against which real Christianitv 



124 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

must protest. As to infant baptism, it is now among most Protes- 
tant bodies symbolical of the parent's desire that the child should 
be considered as adopted by the Church until he is of age to 
choose for himself, and of the parent's determination to care for 
his religious welfare, to " bring him up in the nurture and admoni- 
tion of the Lord," and not at all of any change wrought in the 
child himself. The Baptist protest, once universally needed, and 
still valid as against Catholics and High Church Episcopalians, 
who look upon baptism as " regenerating " by virtue of the divine 
grace which it conveys, is not applicable to this interpretation. 
The logical consequence of the insistence upon immersion — 
namely, exclusion from the communion of all not so baptized — 
makes it still more to be regretted, and sets the Baptists, who 
cling to it, the more squarely against the progress of Christian 
union. 

QUESTIONS. 

What does the word " Baptist " mean ? What was the first name given ? 
How far back can Baptist doctrines be traced? When did they revive? 
Where were they found at their best ? Who was the first advocate of reli- 
gious liberty ? How did Baptist doctrines get into England ? What treat- 
ment did they receive ? How was the body divided, and what became of 
the parts ? Who founded the Baptist sect in this country ? Where was the 
first church formed? How did the body fare in Massachusetts ? When did 
it obtain liberty ? Where is it strongest ? Where at its best? 

What is its church government ? Has it any authoritative creed ? Why? 
What statements of belief are popular ? What, is the general cast of doc- 
trine ? Are they more or less progressive than the Congregationalists ? 
What is their doctrine as to infant baptism ? Why ? What as to baptism ? 
Why ? What as to the communion ? Why ? What as to liberty of thought ? 
Name some other sects who are Baptist in any way. How many Baptists 
are there in this country ? How do they compare in numbers with the other 
sects which we have considered ? 

How are we indebted to the Baptists ? What was their relation to political 
freedom ? What good can be said of their resistance to infant baptism ? 
What have they done for foreign missions? What must w~e say of their 
insistence on a form of baptism ? Was it the original form ? What differ- 
ence does that make ? What should we do if we kept the Last Supper ex- 
actly as it was instituted ? What is the form of baptism used by Catholics ? 
Why ? What ancient kind of religion is perpetuated by the insistence upon 
immersion ? Is it really Christian ? What is the prevailing Protestant idea 
of infant baptism ? What sects practise it? What bodies hold a different 
idea of it ? What do you think of "close communion" ? What is your 
general impression of the Baptists? 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 125 



REFERENCES. 

The best manual is Baptist Layman's Booh, by W. W. Everts, D. D. 
Also good are The Distinctive Principles of the Baptists, by A. M. Pendle- 
ton, and The Baptist Principle, by W. C. Wilkinson; Baptist History, by 
J. M. Cramp (popular); A History <f the Baptists, by Thomas Armitage, 
D. D. (best and most comprehensive); McClintock and Strong and Ency- 
clopaedia Britannica, article "Baptists;" Schaff, vol. i. pp. 840-859. On 
baptism, see Smith's Bible Dictionary and Encyclopaedia Britannica under 
this word, Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament under 
BairriCw, and the very interesting chapter i. in Dean Stanley's Christian 
Institutions. On the Baptists in this country, see Benedict's General His- 
tory of the Baptists in America; The Puritan Age in Massachusetts, by 
George E. Ellis; Palfrey's History of New England; Memorial History of 
Boston; Virginia, by J. E. Cooke; Backus's History of the Baptists of New 
England, 2 vols. ; and Cathcart's Baptist Encyclopaedia. Eor the history of 
the minor bodies, see Goodby's By-paths in Baptist History and Stewart's 
History of the Freewill Baptists. For Baptist doctrines at length, see 
Strong's Systematic Thedogy, Hovey's Manual of Systematic Theology 
and Christian Ethics, and Butler's Christian Theology (Free Baptist); 
also Fisher, Index. 

The " Philadelphia Confession" and the " New Hampshire Confession" 
may be found in Schaff, vol. iii.; in McClintock and Strong; and the latter 
in the Baptist Layman's Booh, p. 60. 



8. THE MORAVIANS. 

This is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his 
Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. — 
1 John iii. 23. 

The name "Moravians" is a popular one, derived from the 
country of Moravia, between Austria and Bohemia, from which 
they originated. They call themselves Unitas Fratrum, or 
" United Brethren," but must not be confounded with the 
Methodist "United Brethren in the United States." 



126 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

They were originally a party among the followers of John Huss 
(burned, 1415), and were at one time very numerous, but were 
almost exterminated in the Catholic reaction at the end of the 
sixteenth century. The present church took its rise, in 1735, 
from a few families of their descendants, who lived on the estates 
of Count Zinzendorf in Saxony, — a place which they called 
Herrnhut, or u The Lord's Protection." Thence they spread 
through Germany, where they are a society within the Lutheran 
Church, into England and the United States. 

They have no formal creed ; but the doctrines implied in their 
catechism and liturgy are Evangelical, in general agreement with 
the Lutherans. Their peculiarity lies rather in their very warm 
and sincere religious feeling, which so impressed John Wesley 
that he was converted and started in his great career by contact 
with it, and their extraordinary zeal for missionary work. Their 
central and vitalizing point is their personal devotion to a per- 
sonal Christ. Their influence has everywhere tended to cool 
controversy and quicken genuine religious life. 

They have m>hops, presbyters, and deacons. Their bishops 
have no dioceses, but collectively watch over the welfare of the 
church, ordaining the other two orders. The legislation is in the 
hands of synods, the executive power in a board of bishops and 
elders. The church is divided into three provinces, — Conti- 
nental, English, and American, — each caring for its own local 
affairs, but united in doctrine and missions. They have a wor- 
ship partly liturgical, partly extemporaneous, with much music. 
Their hymns breathe a tender and sweet piety. 

For their warm religious feeling and aversion to mere dogmatic 
controversy, we must join in the universal praise which goes out 
to the Moravians. They approach us doctrinaliy also, in that 
they were the spiritual ancestors of the Methodists, who broke the 
sway of Calvinism over Protestants. They have dropped many sin- 
gular practices, — as foot- washing, and the use of the lot in choos- 
ing their ministers, and in marriage. They were the first hearty 
pioneers in the missionary movement, and have done more in propor- 
tion to their numbers than any other body, especially in Greenland, 
Labrador, among the Esquimaux, and the American Indians. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 127 

There were in 1882 in all 10 bishops, 291 presbyters and dea- 
cons, and 18,871 communicants (in this country, 1886, 10,250); 
besides 26,455 communicants in home and foreign missions. 

QUESTIONS. 

Whence came the name "Moravians" ? What do they call themselves ? 
What was their origin ? their fate at first ? Whence the present church ? 
Where do they live? Have they a creed? Where do they stand doctri- 
nally ? What is their peculiarity V their central principle ? their effect on 
controversies V What is their polity ? their worship ? How are they 
related to us doctrinally? What have they done for missions? How 
numerous are they ? Can you think of any Moravian hymns ? Look 
them up in the hymn-book of your church. What founder of a great sect 
was influenced by them ? What do you see to commend in them ? what to 
censure ? 

REFERENCES. 

Schaff, vol. i. pp. 874-881; Fisher, Index, Encyclopaedia Britannica; 
McClintock and Strong, The Moravian Manual ; Holmes's History of the 
United Brethren, 2 vols.; A. C. Thompson, Moravian Missions. 



9. THE METHODISTS. 

Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. — Rev. xxii. 17. 

Name. — "Methodists " is a nickname given to John Wesley 
and his Oxford associates by another student, on account of their 
regular religious habits. It was originally applied to an ancient 
school of physicians. In England the followers of Wesley are 
called " Wesleyan Methodists; " in this country, " The Methodist 
Episcopal Church." 

History. — The Methodists owe their existence as a body to 
a great organizer, John Wesley, and a great preacher, George 
Whitefield. But as Whitefield became a Calvinist, his influence 
practically ceased at his death; and the Methodism of to-day is 
mainly the work of John Wesley. He was a graduate of Christ- 



128 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

church, Oxford, and a fellow of Lincoln College, becoming a 
clergyman in 1728. His tendencies were then "High Church." 
From the Moravians he adopted those doctrines of conversion, 
assurance, and perfection which became the substance of his 
preaching. On May 24, 1738, he himself experienced that sud- 
den change which it was his aim henceforth to produce in others. 
It was then that modern Methodism was born. 

The early Methodists may be described as the revival party in 
the Church of England. Nothing was further from their purpose 
than to leave that church; but its piety was at a very low ebb. 

The fervent preaching of Wesley and Whitefield was met with 
scorn and hostility. Almost every pulpit was closed to them, and 
they were often mobbed and maltreated. Whitefield then began 
preaching in the open air, and was soon followed by Wesley, 
though with great reluctance. Beginning with the colliers of 
Kingswood, near Bristol, Whitefield gathered thousands about 
him; and the new views, and still more the new earnestness, 
spread over the whole kingdom. Chapels were erected, lay 
preachers ordained ; and Wesley's marvellous powers of organiza- 
tion consolidated the growing body, which at his death numbered 
nearly eighty thousand members. Charles Wesley, his brother, 
the hymn-writer of the movement, and also a strong preacher,, 
composed over six thousand religious poems. 

The influence of Methodism spread far beyond its own adher- 
ents. The English Church was roused to a religious life and a 
philanthropic zeal which have never since left her. The Evan- 
gelical movement was the Methodist wave inside the Church; and 
the Ritualist revival, which succeeded the Liberal reaction from 
this, received some of its life from the same source. Attention to 
the poor, both in religion and in their material condition, as in 
factories and mines, received a new impetus ; and it is claimed 
that the quiet growth of England into political freedom, as con- 
trasted with the violent revolutions and reactions upon the Conti- 
nent, was partly due to the gentler spirit which the Methodist 
movement instilled into the lower classes. 

The Methodists are by far the largest non-conformist body in 
England, having their strength chiefly in the middle and lower 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 129 

classes. Though Wesley himself never wished them to leave the 
Church of England, and died in its communion, his followers 
have been obliged to organize a separate body, and as such now 
exist, though with kindly feelings toward the church which they 
have been the last large sect to leave. 

The first Methodist society in America was formed, in 1766, in 
New York, by Irish emigrants, under the lead of Barbara Heck. 
Appealed to for aid, Wesley, in 1784, ordained two " presbyters" 
and a "superintendent," the Rev. Thomas Coke, and sent them 
over. Precisely what rank Wesley meant Coke to represent in 
the English Church is a matter of dispute ; but he was virtually 
a bishop. He ordained Francis Asbury, and the two were the 
first American Methodist bishops. Asbury 's activity and success 
in this country were second only to Wesley's in England, and he 
saw his sect increase from fifteen thousand to two hundred and 
eleven thousand in 1816. 

The career of Methodism in this country is almost as romantic 
as it has been successful. As a pioneer religion, pushing its way 
westward, and following closely the advancing settlers, it recalls 
the apostolic days. Already in 1799 the Methodists had adopted 
"camp-meetings" to draw together the scattered and churchless 
population of Tennessee under temporary religious influences. 
Their preaching was of the most glowing description, working 
powerfully upon crude natures, and though often producing 
strange nervous disturbances, making wonderful and permanent 
changes of character. More than any other religion Methodism 
adapted itself to the needs of the new country, and deserved to be 
called the "American religion." It has also had great influence 
over the negroes of the South. The colored Methodists are organ- 
ized into the "African Methodist Episcopal Church" (1816) and 
the "African Methodist Episcopal Zion's Church; " and in 1870, 
by order of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, the " Colored 
Methodist Episcopal Church in America " was created. Slavery 
has divided the main church also. In 1843 the " Wesleyan 
Methodist Church" broke away on this question • and in 1846 the 
" Methodist Episcopal Church South H was formed. Other seces- 
sions have been the "Methodist Protestant Church" (1830), 

9 



130 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

which like the English sect has no bishops, but is governed by 
conferences; "United Brethren in Christ," or German Methodists 
(1800); "Evangelical Association,' ' or "Albrights" (1800); 
" Free Methodist Church" (1860), differing from the main body 
only on minor points of government or discipline. 

Government. — The Methodists, like the Catholics, Episcopa- 
lians, and Presbyterians, are a visible Church, not merely a collec- 
tion of churches, like the Baptists and Congregationalists. The 
separate church or congregation does not govern itself, but is 
governed by a central power, the General Conference. 

In England the Conference is the les;al successor to the almost 
absolute power of John Wesley, which was transferred by him in 
a legal instrument, the "Deed of Declaration." in 1784. The 
chapels had been placed in his possession, and were now given to 
one hundred ministers selected by him as the Conference, — a 
close corporation, filling its own vacancies. In their hands the 
power remains. There are no bishops. 

In the United States power is centred in the General Con- 
ference, which meets once in four years. It is made up of del- 
egates from the annual conferences, formerly all ministers, but 
since 1872 including two laymen from each conference. It elects 
the bishops, and is the supreme legislative body, under certain 
limitations as to the fundamental points of the system. The 
annual conferences are made up of the itinerant preachers of a 
certain district, and have mainly to do with their affairs. The 
region of the annual conference is divided into districts, each with 
its presiding elder and its district conference, which meets once or 
twice a year as directed, and is made up of the preachers, itiner- 
ant and local, in the district, and a Sunday-school superintendent 
and class-leader from each society, with other officers. This con- 
ference licenses the local preachers, and cares for the general 
temporal and spiritual affairs of the district. The quarterly con- 
ference is made up of the officers of the church, or of the several 
churches constituting a circuit. Besides having charge of the 
affairs of the church, or churches, it pronounces upon the fitness 
of any member who desires to preach. In each society there are 
also classes, each under its leader, who originally had strict over- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 131 

sight upon the members, visiting them once a week, advising them, 
and collecting their contributions, but whose duties are now much 
less rio-orous. 

The bishops are elected by the General Conference, and hold 
office for lite. Their duty is strictly administrative. They pre- 
side at the annual conferences, without vote, and ordain the 
preachers and assign them to their stations. They have no dio- 
ceses, as the Episcopal and Catholic bishops, but change juris- 
diction every year according to the disposition of a committee of 
themselves, — each having residence, however, at some one point. 

The presiding elders constitute the council of the bishop who 
happens to have jurisdiction over their region, advising him as to 
the character and ability of the preachers to be assigned. They 
visit and preside over the quarterly conferences. 

The preachers are of two kinds, local and travelling. The 
local preachers are not assigned nor supported, having other avo- 
cations during the week, but officiate as needed. The travelling 
preachers devote all their time to the work of the ministry, and 
are supported by the societies. They apply to the quarterly con- 
ference for recommendation to the annual conference, and if 
recommended, are allowed to preach on trial for two years, pursu- 
ing certain required studies. They are then ordained deacons, 
permitted to baptize and marry, but not to administer the com- 
munion. After two years more of study they are, if they pass 
their examinations, ordained as elders or preachers. There are 
also exporters, who may lead prayer-meetings ; steicai*ds, who care 
for the pecuniary affairs of the society ; and a new order of dea- 
conesses, women who are set apart for works of mercy and charity 
in the cities. 

Doctrines — The official standard is the abridgment of the 
Articles of the Church of England, which Wesley reduced from 
thirty-nine to twenty-five. Virtual standards are also Wesley's 
sermons and " Xotes on the Xew Testament" and Watson's 
" Institutes of Theology." 

The characteristic of Methodist theology is that it is Arminmn 
instead of Calcinistic. The Methodists were the first great sect to 
break formally from the doctrines of Calvin. As against his doc- 



132 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

trine of election, it proclaims free grace, — that is, the offer of 
salvation to all men, who are therefore lost only through their own 
deliberate refusal of it. This implies that the atonement of Christ 
was universal ; that is, not intended for the elect alone, but for all 
men. Although Methodism admits that when properly educated 
a soul may pass gradually into a state of salvation, yet it looks 
commonly to a sudden experience, — conviction of sin, faith in 
Christ, and consciousness of regeneration. When this process is 
complete, there is an " assurance," or certainty in the mind of the 
convert, upon which Methodism lays great stress. It further 
maintains that it is possible in this life to attain to such a com- 
pleteness of union with Christ that one is sinless in spirit, though 
errors of judgment and involuntary transgressions are still pos- 
sible. This is the doctrine of " perfection." The three char- 
acteristic doctrines of Methodism are therefore " free grace," 
"assurance," and " perfection.' ' 

In other points it is at one with Evangelical Christendom. It 
holds to the universal corruption of mankind by the fail of Adam, 
total depravity, the Trinity, vicarious atonement, eternal bliss and 
torment, and the inspiration and authority of the Bible. 

The worship of Methodism was at first according to the English 
Liturgy ; but it has retained this only (abridged) in the sacra- 
ments of baptism and communion, and in the ordination service, 
and then only in an abridged form. Baptism is by sprinkling, 
though choice of other forms is allowed. Prayer is extempore, 
and it is but rarely that manuscripts are used in preaching. 

Converts are not admitted into this church until they have 
spent six months of " probation " (in England three) in the class- 
meetinor. u Love feasts" were once held in connection with the 
quarterly visit of the presiding elder, at which "experiences'' 
were related, and bread and water taken in token of fellowship. 
Watch-meetings are often held on the last night of the year. 

Statistics. — There were in 1890 in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church 2,236,000 members; 15,500 travelling and 13,500 local 
preachers, under 16 bishops, besides 2 missionary bishops; 25,000 
Sunday-schools, with 2,200,000 pupils. The value of the church 
property is nearly $100,000,000; of parsonages, $13,000,000. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 133 

The current expenses were $11,000,000; and 81,000,000 were 
given for missions, besides $200,000 from the Women's Foreign 
Missionary Society. The Methodist Church South has 1,166,000 
members; the African, 410,000 ; Zion, 412,000 ; Colored, 170,000; 
Evangelical, 148,700; the Methodist Protestant, 148,000, — mak- 
ing with the smaller bodies a total of over 4,980,000 members, 
exclusive of other attendants and children. The total Methodist 
constituency in the United States is claimed at 10,000,000, or one 
in every six of the population. The total membership in the 
world is placed at between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000, and the total 
number of adherents at 25,000,000. 



The Methodists deserve the warmest praise for their love of the 
common people and their care for individuals. Beginning at a 
time when religion was cold and formal, and even as such confined 
mainly to the upper classes, they made it a warm and living real- 
ity, which laid hold of the humblest lives. No other religious body 
except the Catholics has so carefully searched out the individual 
and ministered to his wants as the early Methodists by their close 
organization. Much of this has changed with the loss of the first 
enthusiasm and with the improved circumstances of their members. 
In the civilization of the great West in tins country they did 
service which cannot be forgotten. 

In the evolution of Liberal Christianity they deserve mention 
as the first great body to break openly away from the Calvinism 
which prevailed at least nominally in Protestant Christendom. 
In denying predestination and election, they asserted the power 
of the individual will to control its own destiny to some extent, 
and so far advanced toward belief in that dignity of human 
nature which Channing and his followers fully maintained. The 
break in the chain of Calvinistic reasoning, though it has stopped 
here in Methodism itself, has encouraged Liberalism generally; 
and Unitarians have often had a more fraternal connection with 
Methodists than with other Evangelicals. The aid given by Uni- 
tarians to the African Method' sts of the South was bestowed with 
all the more readiness for this reason. And while there is not 
much resemblance or sympathy between the emotional worship of 
the Methodists and our more quiet and intellectual ways, yet in 
the vividness of the Methodist's religious experiences, in public 
and private, we find something akin to our belief that the Spirit 



134 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

of God is active in the soul to-day as well as in the apostolic 
times. 

But the fact that in their revolt from Calvinism the Methodists 
stopped with the denial of human helplessness, and cling yet to 
the Trinity, the deity of Christ, a vicarious atonement, a future 
state fixed forever at death, and a textual use of Scripture, keeps 
a gulf between them and us which at present it seems impossible 
to bridge. 

QUESTIONS. 

What was the origin of the name "Methodist"? Whence came its 
present use ? What other names now honored have been given in derision? 
What is the English name for Methodists ? Who were their founders ? 
How did Whitefield differ from Wesley in doctrine V What was Wesley's 
first tendency ? Whose influence changed him ? What was the relation of 
the first Methodists to the Church of England ? How did it treat them ? 
What has been the result ? Who was Charles Wesley ? What was the effect 
of Methodism outside its own ranks ? What position does it now hold in 
England ? Who formed the first Methodist church in this country ? Who 
were the first Methodist leaders? Compare the independence of the Metho- 
dists on reaching this country with that of the Puritans of Massachusetts 
Bay. Describe the career of Methodism in this country. What was the use 
of camp-meetings ? What has Methodism done in the South ? 

What is the church government of the Methodists V What is the govern- 
ing body called ? What is the difference between the English and the 
American Conferences ? What is the difference as to the use of bishops ? 
What is the district conference? the quarterly? What are "classes"? 
What is the difference between a Methodist and an Episcopal bishop ? What 
does the presiding elder do ? What kinds of preachers are there ? 

What is the standard of doctrine ? What is the characteristic of Metho- 
dist theology ? Wherein does it differ from Calvinism ? What is the differ- 
ence between "free grace" and "predestination'' ? between "particular 
atonement" and "general atonement"? What kind of conversion do 
Methodists favor ? What is " assurance " ? " perfection " ? How is wor- 
ship conducted ? What is " probation " ? What position does Methodism 
hold among the sects in this country as to numbers ? 

For what two things especially do Methodists deserve praise ? Compare 
them with the Catholics. What have they done for our West ? What 
relation do the} 7 bear to Liberal Christianity ? What do we find in their 
religious temperament akin to our views ? On what points do we differ 
from them? How serious is this difference ? What is your general impres- 
sion of Methodism ? Compare it with the other Protestant bodies which we 
have considered. What can you praise ? What must you reject ? What 
hymns of Charles Wesley do you know ? 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 135 



REFERENCES. 

The best history of Methodism is that of Dr. Abel Stevens, in seven 
volumes, three of general history, four of American; but a good resume 
is James Porter's History of Methodism, in one volume. See also the most 
admirable ninth chapter in Lecky's History of En gland in the Eighteenth 
Ctntury, vol. iL; Lives of John Wesley, by Southey and by L. Tyerman, 
3 vols. ; John Wesley and the Evangelical Reaction of the Eighteenth Cen- 
tury, by Julia Wedgwood; Schaff, vol. i. pp. 882-904; Life of George 
Whitefeld, by L. Tyerman. McClintock and Strong is very full on all 
points. History, doctrine, and government are summed up in James Porter's 
Compend of Methodism ; Fisher, pp. 515-523, and Index. 

For belief and usages, see the official Doctrines and Discipline of the 
Methodist Church. John Wesley's sermons and Notes on the New Testa- 
ment and Richard Watson's Theological Institutes are virtual though not 
official standards. See also Bishop Foster's Studies in Theology. The 
statistics are given in the official Minutes of the Annual Conferences. 



10. THE SALVATION ARMY. 
A good soldier of Jesus Christ. — 2 Tim. ii. 3. 

The original name was "The Christian Mission. " But Mr. 
Booth, in correcting a proof in which the workers were described 
as "a volunteer army," said, " No, we are not volunteers, for we 
feel that we must do what we do, and we are always on duty.'* 
He substituted the word " salvation." The title spread, and was 
formally adopted in 1878. The title " General " was originally 
an abbreviation of " General Superintendent of the Christian 
Mission." The military idea was thus a growth. 

The Salvation Army Is the development of a mission undertaken 
in the East End of London in 1875 by Mr. and Mrs. Booth. Its 
aim was to reach the lowest classes of the population there reli- 
giously and morally, in this adopting the general methods of 
<w revivalists," but with the addition of caring also for bodily 
needs where that was possible. Since the <f army" idea was 
adopted, it has been carried out in great detail in organization, 
discipline, titles, and phraseology. Its doctrinal standard is the 



136 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

" Articles of War," which each recruit signs, and which contain 
moderately Evangelical doctrines, probably closely resembling the 
" free grace " of the Methodists. It allows women to be preach- 
ers, and they are everywhere prominent among the workers. The 
spirit of the movement, though suffering sometimes in the hands 
of incompetent and ignorant people, has been admirable, thor- 
oughly Christian in the best sense, and recalling some of the most 
effective periods in Christian history, — as those of the Franciscan 
monks or of early Methodism. Though it seems sometimes gro- 
tesque to more cultivated observers, its effect upon the lower 
classes has been often wonderful. 

Its growth has been very rapid. It numbers to-day 2,864 
"corps," in 32 different countries, 9,349 officers devoted exclu- 
sively to the work, 13,000 non-commissioned or volunteer officers, 
7,000 musicians, and over 1,000,000 privates. It has a revenue 
of about $3,750,000 a year, and invested property of about 
$3,000,000. It has 32 periodicals (in 12 languages), 24 Homes 
of Rest, 30 Training Garrisons (for its preachers), 30 Reaeue 
Homes for Fallen Women, etc. 

Its history and hopes are given in a most interesting book by 
General Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out, of which 
a digest with numerous photographs is given in the "Review 
of Reviews," for October, 1890; and in Beneath Two Flags y by 
Mrs. Maud B. Booth. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 137 

Section II. 
CERTAIN OTHER PROTESTANT SECTS. 

1. THE ANTI-SECTARIAN SECTS. 

Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, 
because he followeth not with us But Jesus said, Forbid him not, for he 
that is not against us is on our part. — Mark ix. 38-40. 

I. The Christians. — The popular name is "The Christian 
Connection." The name " Christian" is meant to imply that the 
body returns to the primitive condition of Christianity before it 
was corrupted by creeds or by any false doctrine. 

The sect exi.-ts only in the United States and Canada, and 
arose from the union of three distinct movements : (1) A seces- 
sion from the Methodists, in 1793, in Virginia and North Caro- 
lina, led by the Rev. James CTKelly, who had opposed in vain 
the power of the bishops over the assignment of ministers to 
churches. They were at first called " Republican Methodists." 

(2) A secession from the Baptists, in 1800, led by Dr. Abner 
Jones, of Hartland, Vermont, who was joined by many from Free- 
will Baptist Churches. They wished a non-sectarian Biblical basis. 

(3) A secession from the Presbyterians of Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, in 1801, of people who during a great revival had fallen 
away from Calvinism, and embraced the doctrine of u free grace." 
They took the name of " Christians " in 1803, whence the name 
passed over to the united body. 

The " Christians " believe the Bible to be divinely inspired and 
the supreme authority in matters of religion. Every man must 
read it for himself ; and no creed or council can condemn him for 
doctrines which he honestly draws from it, nor should any church 
withdraw its fellowship from him for doctrinal reasons. They hold 
an Arian view of Christ, — that is, that he is a divine being, pre- 
existed, and is a mediator between God and man ; but he is not 
God, and there is no Trinity. His atoning sufferings suffice for 
all men, who if they repent and have faith may be saved. They 



138 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

immerse in baptism, denying that rite to infants, but bold " open 
communion." 

Tbeir government is congregational, tbe various cburclies 
sending delegates to State conferences, and tbey to tbe General 
Conference. Tbese are bodies of consultation, not of authority. 

The increase of the Christians reached its climax in 1844, when 
there were nearly 325,000; but in 1888 they bad declined to 
142,000, witb 1,755 churcbes and 1,344 ministers. Tbe causes of 
this have been the " Millerite " or " Adventist " excitement about 
tbat time, the secession of many to tbe Disciples of Christ, and 
the growing liberality of tbe older bodies. 

See History of the Christians, by N. Summerbell; Encyclopaedia 
Britannica Supplement, vol. ii. ; Dorchester's Christianity in the 
United States, pp. 315-317. 

II. Disciples of Christ. — Popular names for this sect are 
" Campbellites " and " Campbellite Baptists.' ' The members 
prefer to be called "Disciples of Christ" or "Christians." 

The sect was founded, in 1812, by an Irish Presbyterian, Alex- 
ander Campbell, who came to this country in 1807. His purpose 
was to draw Christians together out of all party names, creeds, 
and organizations. The Disciples have no creed, but are Evan- 
gelical in belief. They steadfastly decline to explain such points 
as the Trinity or the atonement, holding them as revealed facts 
above tbe reach of the human intellect, and give baptism only by 
immersion. They are congregational in government, with tbe 
usual district, State, and national associations. 

In 1888 they had 645,771 members (mostly in the West), 6,859 
churches, and 3,388 ministers besides some foreign missionaries. 
They are increasing in number very fast. They are enthusiastic 
in Sunday-school work, and have paid attention to education, 
having 5 universities, 20 colleges, and 8 academies, and 31 
periodicals of all kinds. _, 

See Encyclopaedia Britannica Supplement, vol. ii. ; The Origin 
of the Disciples of Christ, by G. W. Longan; Memoirs of Alexan- 
der Campbell; The Christian System, by Alexander Campbell; 
Dorchester, p. 485. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 139 

III. The Christian Union, or The Church of Christ in 
Christian Union, was organized in Columbus, Ohio, in 1863. Its 
platform is " The oneness of the Church of Christ, Christ the 
only head, the Bible our only rule of faith and practice, ' good 
fruits * the only condition of fellowship, Christian union without 
controversy, each local church governs itself, political preaching 
discountenanced." The reason for the movement was that men's 
kt hearts were wearied with the cruel intolerance and divisions of 
the sects." This body is Evangelical in doctrine, congregational 
in government, having local councils and a quadrennial general 
council, and practises both kinds of baptism. 

It numbered in 1889 150,000 members, with 1,500 churches and 
1,200 ministers, mainly in the West, and is rapidly increasing. 

See Encyclopaedia Britannica Supplement, vol. ii. ; Dorchester, 
pp. 6 7 7, 783. 

Liberal Christians must sympathize with all these bodies in 
their protest against the narrow and trivial sectarianism which 
divides Christendom. It seems a pity, however, that they should 
have found it necessary to organize new sects. Between Unita- 
rians and " Christians" there is practically little difference except 
in the mode of baptism, which ought not to be considered an essen- 
tial matter; while between the " Disciples" and the " Christian 
Union " there seems to be no valid ground for continued separa- 
tion. The three bodies together make a reinforcement to the Uni* 
tarian protest against creeds of nearly a million church members, 
besides those otherwise connected with these churches. 

QUESTIONS. 

Who are the ''Christians"? What is the name commonly given to 
them ? Where does it exist V How was the sect formed ? What is its 
belief about the source of authority in religion ? about Christ ? Are they 
Unitarian? Are they Arminian or Calvinist as to the atonement? Are 
they increasing ? Why ? 

What are the common names for the " Disciples of Christ " ? Who was 
their founder ? What was his aim ? What is the tenor of their doctrines ? 
How do they baptize ? What is their polity ? Are they numerous ? 
growing ? 

What is the Christian Union ? What are its principles? Is it Liberal 
or Evangelical ? 

How far can Unitarians sympathize with any of these bodies ? 



140 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 



2. THE FRIENDS. 

When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. 

John xvi. 13. 

Name. — The full name of this sect is " The Religious Society 
of Friends." The name by which they are commonly known, 
" Quakers," is never used by themselves. It was given to them in 
mockery by one Justice Bennett, of Dtrby, England, because 
George Fox "bid them [the judges] tremble at the word of the 
Lord." 

History. — The founder and organizer of the Friends was 
George Fox (1624-1690), the son of a weaver in Drayton, Leices- 
tershire, England. He was poorly educated, and early appren- 
ticed to a shoemaker, but was always " religious, inward, still, 
solid, and observing beyond his years. " Brooding much in that 
time of religious excitement and discussion over the matters in 
dispute, he felt within him the stirrings and revelations of the 
Spirit of God, and began in 1647 to go about England as a way- 
side preacher of the gospel of the "inner light" as superior, 
though not necessarily opposed, to the authority of Church and 
Bible. Insisting on speaking in the churches during the services, 
he was repeatedly thrown into prison. But he and his fellow- 
preachers had wonderful success, drawing immense crowds after 
them, and making many converts. Hearers fell into convulsions 
and sometimes into insanity. The preachers themselves were 
often eccentric, sometimes beyond the bounds of decency. Natu- 
rally, they roused the bitter hostility of all the sects of the day, 
and were frequently mobbed and in danger of their lives. The 
language on both sides was warm, and even coarse. The Quaker 
was a very different being from what he has since become. He 
was filled with a fierce desire to convert others. He went to the 
United States, West Indies, Jerusalem, Malta; and Mary Fisher 
— for women also became preachers — visited Smyrna and Greece, 
and even sought audience of the Sultan. Fox did not favor the 
formation of a separate sect, being sure that his doctrine would 
conquer the Church itself; but the believers naturally drew 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 141 

together into organizations of their own, which in 1666 were made 
formal, and a discipline was established for the regulation of the 
lives of members. 

Toleration by the English government was proclaimed in 1689 ; 
and Fox dying in 1690, the Friends changed their character very 
essentially. r J hey had suffered during the age of persecution 
more than any other body, fourteen thousand having been impris- 
oned, one hundred and fifty transported, and over three hundred 
having died from ill-treatment or direct martyrdom. .Now the 
body, like most of the others, lapsed into quietness and almost 
indolence. It became known more for its peculiarities of dress 
and manners than for its doctrines, ceased to convert or contro- 
vert, became a consciously "peculiar people," drew away from 
the rest of the Christian world, sought by strict regulations 
to keep its members jealously together, and grew wealthy and 
respectable. Its numbers rapidly declined. In 1700 there were 
probably one hundred thousand in the United Kingdom, in 1800 
only twenty thousand, and to-day there are probably not over 
fifteen thousand. 

To the United States they came early, two women landing in 
Boston in 1656. Their coming was much dreaded; and after 
imprisonment for five weeks they were sent away to Barbadoes. 
The most stringent laws were passed against Quakers coming 
to the colony, and against any one harboring or aiding them ; 
but only the more were they moved to come and " bear testi- 
mony. " They interrupted the Puritan services, doing strange 
and disturbing things "for a sign," and returned when banished. 
The excitement against them was great; and at last the authori- 
ties, driven beyond patience, hung four of them, Mary Dyer being 
one, on Boston Common. Public opinion and the order of the 
king condemned this, however, though the struggle against them 
only gradually ceased. In 1678 they settled New Jersey under 
Fenwick, and in 1682 Pennsylvania under William Penn; and 
for many years the immigration was very large. The decrease in 
England was nearly balanced by the increase in this country. 
There is a small annual growth on both sides of the Atlantic, but 
not in proportion to the increase of the population. 



142 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

In the middle of the last century a stern attempt was made to 
restore strictness of discipline in the society ; and it is estimated 
that nearly one third of its number was lost, as a result chiefly of 
the excommunication for marriage with the " world's people." 
Doctrinal discussions also rent the body. Elias Hicks, a preacher 
of Long Island, was accused of Unitarianism and of too free treat- 
ment of the Bible; and a division took place. He was followed, 
in 1827, by about one third of the American Friends, chiefly in 
Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Maryland. Largely by the 
influence of the Gurney family, which included Elizabeth Fry, 
the majority of the Society in both countries reacted into Evan, 
gelical doctrines, and were assimilated to the popular Christianity. 
But John Wilbur, a Rhode Island Friend, opposed this movement, 
and led a return to faith in the " inner light," as well as to other 
doctrines of Fox and his contemporaries. The majority, how- 
ever, remained " orthodox " or " Gurneyite," the Wilburites now 
hardly existing as an organized body. 

Doctrines — The characteristic doctrine of the Friends is the 
reliance upon the " Spirit" as a present voice and light in every 
man's own soul. Reverencing the Bible as true and inspired, 
they maintain that the same Holy Spirit which spoke to the men 
of old speaks to-day, and that every man should listen for it and 
be guided by it. In this belief they once stood opposed both to 
those who hold to the Church and to those who hold to the Bible 
as authority. In all matters of life, as well as in doctrine, they 
waited for this " inner light;" and when it came, or seemed to 
them to come, they were fearless to the extreme. 

From this main doctrine it follows — 

1. That a specially educated ministry is not deemed essential. 
Men and women should speak from divine impulse, and not from 
any human ordination, and should say what God gave them to say, 
not what human education taught them. If any one feels con- 
strained to devote himself to preaching, and his brethren think 
that he is justified in it, he may do so; but there must be no 
preparation, either in general or for special occasions. The only 
ordination is a minute of approval by the Meeting to which he 
belongs, which constitutes him a minister. Speech is always ex- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 143 

temporaneous. The preachers are not u settled," but often travel 
from place to place. 

2. Though the Friends assemble at stated times for worship, 
no " order of service" is allowed. The Bible is not read, nor 
is any prayer or address necessarily made ; and there is never, 
except as a modern innovation, singing or music of any kind. No 
one speaks unless " moved by the Spirit ; " and when so moved, 
any one may speak. 

3. There are no religious ceremonies. There is no baptism or 
communion, the Friend holding that the rites of old were but 
shadows of spiritual acts ; and he denies that Jesus meant to 
institute or perpetuate them. The marriage of Friends is a simple 
agreement before the Meeting; that the two will live as husband 
and wife, and the signature of a certificate by them and by the 
clerk of the Meeting. At a funeral the friends assemble, and 
after a period of silence at the house, unless some one is moved to 
speak, bear the body to the grave, where also sometimes " testi- 
monies are borne " by ministers to the character of the dead. In 
neither marriage nor funeral has the minister necessarily any 
part. 

In other respects the doctrines of most Friends at present are 
those of moderate Evangelical Christians. 

Organization. — The organization of the Society was originally 
very close. The local society is organized as a "Preparative 
Meeting." It has "overseers of the Meeting," of both sexes, 
who watch over the lives of members ; " overseers of the poor ; " 
and "elders," who care for worship and ministry. Several Pre- 
parative Meetings unite into a "Monthly Meeting," which is the 
executive body, several of these into a " Quarterly Meeting," and 
several of these again into a " Yearly Meeting," which legislates 
for a certain district. There is right of appeal upward to this 
body. Over the Yearly Meetings there is no authority, though 
great deference is paid to the London Meeting, as the oldest. 
The children of members are themselves members by birthright. 
Any one who wishes to become a member makes request to the 
Meeting, on which a committee is appointed to investigate the 
case, and report. 



144 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

The " discipline " of the Society was originally very severe. 
The private life of every member was subject to extraordinary 
scrutiny. All luxury or extravagance in living, amusements, 
even music, undue attention to dress, — especially in colors and 
unnecessary parts, jewelry, buttons, etc., — and too great absorp- 
tion in business, were strictly repressed. Members were forbidden 
to go to law, but must bring their grievances before the Meeting. 
They were forbidden to marry outside of the Society on pain of 
being disowned. When two members intended to marry, they 
appeared before the Monthly Meeting, with the consent of their 
parents ; a committee of men and one of women investigated the 
matter on either side to see that they were clear of all other 
engagements, and that the rights of children, if it were a second 
marriage, were duly cared for ; and if allowed, the marriage took 
place as already described. All military service was forbidden. 
No oaths could be taken. No titles were assumed or given, not 
even "Mr." and "Mrs.;" no unmeaning salutations, as "good- 
morning," exchanged. The hat was not removed in deference to 
any one, even in Meeting, except in prayer, when all rose and 
uncovered their heads ; nor was there any bowing. The primi- 
tive form of address, as "thee" and "thou," was retained; and 
the months and days of the week were designated by numbers, as 
in Scripture, not by the common names, which are of pagan 
origin. Tombstones above a certain small size were prohibited. 
Many of these characteristics, however, including the peculiar 
dress, are simply the remains of former customs or fashions, the 
ornamental being left off. They were not invented. 

The Friends have always been noted for their philanthropy. 
They were the first to advocate the abolition of slavery. In 1761 
all members were cut off who were engaged in the slave trade, 
and by 1784 not a Friend in America owned a slave. The mod- 
ern treatment of the insane was first adopted in England by them. 
They have always protested against war. Their treaties with the 
Indians were never violated, and they have cared greatly for the 
remainder of the race. Elizabeth Fry was one of the first workers 
in prison reform. The first women preachers, and indeed the 
first recognition of the equality of women in religious services, 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 145 

were among the Friends. They have also some foreign missions. 
They have always taken generous care of their own poor, educat- 
ing their children, and assisted each other in business. 

Statistics. — There are in all about 128,000 Friends, of whom 
108,000 are in the United States. Of these 78,000 are "Ortho- 
dox " (under 12 Yearly Meetings, the largest in Indiana), 24,500 
are "Hicksite," and 6,000 are in smaller bodies. They have 7 
colleges, besides academies, and 5 periodicals in this country. 
Many Meetings have also "First-Day schools." 



The Friends were the first Liberal sect in the Reformation, and 
their rise was as remarkable as it was picturesque. They stood 
entirely apart from all other Christian bodies, relying on the 
Spirit as authority, in distinction from Church and Bible. They 
represent, therefore, the extreme of the Pauline or spiritual ten- 
dency. There is something magnificent in their complete trust in 
the inner voice and their sturdy refusal to allow anything to 
interfere with its being heard and obeyed. 

But the almost entire abandonment of this original position, 
even by those who hold to the original name, who even brand it 
with the stigma of heresy, shows that it was premature. Jt was 
too high and ideal a faith for the mass of men to live up to. 
They cannot distinguish between the voice of the Spirit and mere 
transient or selfish impulses. The temptation to set these even 
above the true "inner light " is very strong, and has led to many 
ludicrous, as well as serious, results in practice. There is something 
ironical also in the way in which the ideas of the Friends, when 
carried out, turned back against themselves. Starting from com- 
plete individualism, each man looking within himself for guidance, 
they arrived at one of the most despotic and repressive codes of 
" discipline n which any religious or even civil society has ever 
adopted, and became the most persistent and even annoying 
proselyters of their day. In the name of pure spiritual religion 
they laid an emphasis on external things — as dress, speech, titles 
— which finally made them almost as ritualistic as their first oppo- 
nents, and which became the chief peculiarity by which the world 
designated them. Protesting against fashion and etiquette, they 
fell into a fashion and etiquette of their own quite as strict as any 
which " the world's people " followed ; and in their hostility to 
useless expense and luxury, they came not seldom to be known as 
lovers of money. That after all this the majority of the Society 
should turn about and renounce the pure doctrine of the " inner 

10 



146 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

light," and assimilate themselves to the dogmatic and Scriptural 
position which Fox and Penn denounced, is surely a most striking 
phenomenon in religious history. 

The criticism upon the Friends is that they overlooked on the 
one hand the "solidarity" of mankind, and on the other the 
revelations that come from the , outer world. Other men beside 
themselves had u inner light," and it is by comparison and mutual 
clarifying that truth becomes known ; and the world of Nature, 
as well as the world of the soul, has ligdit to ojive. Nevertheless, 
the main point of the Friend, that the final court of appeal for 
every man in his questions of faith and duty must lie in his own 
conscience, heart, and reason, remains unassailable. It is the 
ground to which Liberal Christianity is rapidly transferring itself ; 
and the Friends must be considered the pioneers and protomartyn 
of modern spiritual religion. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the origin of the name " Quakers"? What is the name they 
give themselves ? Who was their founder ? Relate what you recall of his 
life. What kind of men and women were his first disciples ? How were 
they treated ? What reaction took place ? What can you say of their 
growth ? How did they begin in this country ? How were they treated ? 
What other States did they enter ? What do you know of the beginning 
of Pennsylvania ? What reformation was attempted among the Friends ? 
What divisions arose ? What parties now exist among them ? 

What is their characteristic doctrine? How does it differ from that of 
other sects we have noticed ? How does it compare with our own ? What 
is their practice with regard to the ministry ? to worship ? to religious cere- 
monies ? to marriage and burial ? How are they organized ? What is a 
"Preparative Meeting" ? a "Monthly Meeting" ? a "Quarterly Meet- 
ing "? Does this series of bodies resemble that of any other sect we have 
considered? How does it consist with the theory of the "inner light"? 
How did they treat private life ? dress ? disputes ? marriage ? titles ? lan- 
guage ? How far were any of these inconsistent with the main doctrine ? 
What can you say of their philanthropy ? What did they do for slavery ? 
for the insane ? for peace ? for the Indians ? for woman ? 

Where do the Friends stand in the classification of the sects ? What 
strange transformations have they undergone ? What is the danger of the 
doctrine of the inner light ? Is it any more dangerous than following 
authority ? Has reliance upon an infallible Church or Bible secured freedom 
from error ? What criticism can you make upon the main point ? What 
relation has it to ours? What impression have the Friends made upon you? 
Do you think their main doctrine likely to gain or lose power ? 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 147 



REFERENCES. 

The best (and official) manual is A Concise Account of the Religious 
Society of Friends, Thomas Evans, Philadelphia; admirable summaries in 
McClintock and the Encyclopaedia Britannica. An excellent history and 
criticism by a friendly outsider is Frederick Storrs Turner's The Quakers. 
The standard history of the early movement is William Sewell's History of 
the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the Christian People called Quakers. 
The standards of doctrine are Robert Barclay's An Apology for the True 
Christian Divinity, etc.; the writings of William Penn — for example, No 
Cross, no Crown — and of Isaac Pennington. The usages are given in The 
Book of Discipline. But the spirit of the Friends must be sought in the 
Journal of George Fox, the Life of Thomas Elhcood, John Woolman's 
Journal, and to some degree in the biographies of Elizabeth Fry, Lucretia 
Mott, Isaac T. Hopper, and others. See also many of Whittier's poems. 
The Evangelical movement within the body is advocated in the works of 
John Joseph Gurney, and the Hicksite movement in Janney's History, 
vol. iv., and Journal of Elias Hicks. See also Fisher, Index, '"Quakers;" 
Schaff, vol. i. pp. 859-874 (the Confession of 1675 is in vol. iii., p. 789). 
In the United States, see Bancroft, Palfrey, Memorial History of Boston, 
and G. E. Ellis's The Puritan Commonwealth ; from the Friends' point of 
view, P. P. Hallowell's The Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts. 



3. THE NEW CHURCH. 

To be spiritually minded is life and peace. — Rom. viii. 6. 

Name. — The members of this body are commonly called 
Swedenborgians ; but they do not use the name themselves. Their 
official title is " The Church of the New Jerusalem." 

History. — Emanuel Swedenborg, whose theological writings 
are regarded by this religious body as containing a true and 
divinely revealed exposition of Christian doctrine, was born at 
Stockholm, Sweden, in 1688. His father, Jesper Swedberg, was 
a professor of theology and a bishop in the Lutheran Church, 
a man of great piety and learning, and a zealous reformer. His 
son Emanuel was finely educated, and became famous for mechan- 
ical and mathematical inventions. He was led by his researches 



148 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

into higher regions of thought, and especially to inquire into the 
relations of matter and spirit. About the year 1745 he claimed 
that his spiritual sight was opened. Of this call Swedenborg him- 
self wrote: " I have been called to a holy office by the Lord Him- 
self, who most graciously manifested Himself in person to me His 
servant in the year 1745, when He opened my sight to the view 
of the spiritual world, and granted me the privilege of conversing 
with spirits and angels, which I enjoy to this day (1769). From 
that time I began to print and publish various arcana that have 
been seen by me or revealed to me, — as respecting heaven and 
hell, the state of man after death, the true worship of God, the 
spiritual sense of the Word, with many most important matters 
conducive to salvation and true wisdom." 

He gave himself up entirely to these matters, abandoning his 
former studies. To his seventy-seven treatises on scientific sub- 
jects were now added more than that number upon Biblical and 
theological subjects, the chief of them being his " Arcana Coeles- 
tia," in eight large volumes. Throughout his long period of 
spiritual activity, he retained and honorably filled a seat in the 
Swedish senate, and presented several memorials of importance to 
his country. He died in 1772. He was a man of iron constitu- 
tion, of prodigious intellectual activity and power, of simple life, 
universally respected and loved even by those who ridiculed his 
claims and his doctrines. 

His views were taken up after his death by scholars in Sweden, 
England, Germany, and the United States. The first public 
meeting was held in London, 1783; but the first society was 
organized there in 1787. The first general conference was held 
there in 1789, and the first convention in this country, at Phila- 
delphia, in 1817. 

Doctrines. — The doctrines of the New Church claim to be 
a revelation of spiritual truth, intended to enable us rightly to 
understand the sacred Scripture, to unfold its higher wisdom, 
whereby a purer and more exalted state of life may be attained. 
For this purpose a human instrument was needed, and such an 
instrument was provided in the person of Emanuel Swedenbonr. 
By those who are convinced of the truths of his religious system, 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 149 

his mind is believed to have been illumined to an extraordinary 
degree. His spiritual senses were opened, enabling him to see 
and converse with beings in the other world and describe the 
nature of its life, and also to discern the internal, or as it is 
called, spiritual meaning of the Scripture. 

The New Church believes and teaches that God is love itself 
and wisdom itself *, that he is one both in essence and in person ; 
and that the Lord Jesus Christ in His now glorified and Divine 
Humanity is the perfect embodiment of that God. The Trinity 
is not a trinity of persons, but of divine essentials, consisting of 
love, wisdom, and their proceeding operation, and called in the 
Gospels Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is like the soul, body, 
and their resultant energy. The Father is in the Son, as man's 
soul is within his body; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father 
by the Son, as man's power proceeds into act from his soul by 
means of his body. The divine trinity in the Lord is, then, of 
the same nature as the finite trinity in man, — the Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit being one Lord in one Person, as the soul, body, 
and the life of man are one man. 

While the Lord was on earth, He had both a human and a 
divine nature, just as every man has an external and an internal, 
or what is sometimes called a lower and a higher nature. As to 
the external nature, which was derived by incarnation, He was 
frail, finite, liable to temptation, like any other man ; but as to 
His internal or essential being He was infinite, perfect, divine. 
By His own divine power, He gradually overcame the evil apper- 
taining to the Humanity or nature assumed by birth, conquered 
all the powers of hell, put off all that was frail and finite, and 
brought down into every region of that nature the very divine 
love and wisdom, and so made it one with the essential and in- 
dwelling divinity. This is what is understood by the Lord's 
" glorification " mentioned in the Gospels. 

According to the New Church, the Sacred Scripture is inspired. 
When understood in its true sense, it is seen to treat of things 
spiritual and eternal, — of God, the soul, immortality, redemption, 
regeneration, sin, forgiveness. It appears to treat of things 
natural and temporal. But these are believed to be capable of 



150 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

spiritual interpretation. They all have a deeper or more prop- 
erly a spiritual meaning. So that within or above the apparent 
meaning of any passage there is a higher meaning called the 
spiritual. And this spiritual sense is to that of the letter as the 
soul is to the body. 

But Swedenborg, in revealing the law of a divine composition, 
has disclosed at the same time a means by which the spiritual 
sense may be unfolded; namely, the law of analogy, or more 
properly, of correspondences. According to this law, which was 
known to the ancients, all natural things are seen to bear a rela- 
tion to spiritual things. A knowledge of this law opens the book 
of Nature, making every living object a voice to tell us of the 
spiritual forces from which it springs. It is also found to be the 
key to the Bible, enabling us to see within a temporary and local 
clothing principles of universal and eternal application. So defi- 
nite and systematic is this law of correspondences that a hundred 
different expositors equally skilled in its use will thereby arrive at 
substantially the same spiritual sense. 

The New Church believes that man is born with hereditary 
tendencies to evil. But he is not a sinner because he inherits 
these proclivities, but only when he yields to them in actual evil. 
This natural or hereditary state is not a heavenly one. Gradually 
the natural, inordinate love of self and the world must be replaced 
by a love to the Lord and the neighbor. This takes place in the 
degree that a man regards the indulgence of any known evil as 
a sin against God, and shuns it because it is a sin, at the same 
time conforming his life to all known truth from a sense of re- 
lio-ious obligation. So far as he does this, his evils are removed 
and forgiven, and the opposite good affections are given him in 
their stead. 

The New Church teaches that man does not die. The material 
body alone dies. The spirit, which is the real man, continues to 
live, but in the spiritual world where all things are homogeneous 
to itself. The spirit is in the human form, having senses far more 
acute than those of the body; and these senses are opened as soon 
as the body dies, so that the spirit sees and hears other spirits as 
men see and hear one another. Durino- our life on earth the 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 151 

spiritual body is within the natural. But after the death of the 
latter, the spiritual body still lives on in its own world, and never 
resumes its material vestment. And the separation of the spirit 
from the incumbrance of gross matter, which takes place almost 
immediately after death, is what is understood by the resurrection. 

The " Judgment " consists in the revelation of man's real inward 
character or purpose. By the law of affinity which governs all 
associations in the other world, spirits go with those whose charac- 
ters are most congenial to their own. Thus each one s;oes " to 
his own place " in perfect freedom. 

The happiness of heaven does not consist in idleness or cessa- 
tion from active employment, nor in continual psalm-singing and 
oral prayer, nor in feasting sumptuously with the patriarchs, nor 
in beiii£ raised to honors, nor in the exercise of dominion over 
others, but in the diligent and wise performance of good uses from 
love to the Lord and the neighbor ; in the freest expansion and 
highest exercise of all one's best faculties, not for the sake of self, 
but primarily for the good of others. 

The New Church believes that the Lord's second coming has 
actually commenced ; that it is a coming, not in person, but in a 
new power of the Spirit of Truth, which will lead all who from 
the heart believe in God and his Word into the way of truth, and 
into a new power of Christian goodness and love. 

Government. — The polity of this religious body is both simple 
and liberal. Strict uniformity as to liturgical usages or rules of 
church government is not insisted upon. Each society is free 
to arrange for its own services and act under its own rules, which, 
however, are quite similar. Societies geographically near to each 
other group themselves into an " Association," which then appoints 
one of its ministers as a *' General Pastor," whose duty it is to 
exercise a general oversight of the spiritual interests of his Asso- 
ciation. These Associations are joined together in a general body, 
known as the " General Convention of the New Jerusalem : n the 
United States of America." This general body meets annually. 
To this body the several Associations make a report of their work. 
These meetings, together with a special conference, or meeting of 
all the ministers, Sunday-school superintendents, and teachers, etc., 



152 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

occupy about a week, and are much enjoyed. The Rev. Chauncey 
Giles, D.D., of Philadelphia, has been president of the General 
Convention for many years. 

Ministers are introduced into their office by the usual rite of 
ordination, performed by one of the " General Pastors " above 
mentioned. The church recognizes and carefully observes two 
sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper. 

Statistics. — The " New-Church Almanac" for 1889 sums up 
in America, including Canada, 11 Associations, 127 active socie- 
ties, of which 88 have regular ministerial services, and (estimated) 
7,028 communicant members. To these are added 3,150 not con- 
nected with any body, making a total of 10,178. There are 82 
houses of worship, 65 "reading circles/' 91 Sabbath-schools, and 
91 clergy in active service of various kinds. To the membership 
must be added the usual merely congregational connection. The 
largest number is in Massachusetts. There is a Theological School 
in Cambridge, Mass. ; and Urbana University, at Urbana, Ohio, is 
under New Church control. 

In England there were, in 1885, 65 societies and 32 ministers, 
with about a dozen educational and missionary institutions. There 
are also churches in the colonies, in South Germany, Austria, 
Norway, and Switzerland. 



The influence of the doctrines of the New Church upon those 
who sincerely and intelligently hold them is very marked and very 
beautiful. They give very much the same serenity and quiet trust 
which the primitive Friends had, without their intolerance and 
proselytism, and especially sweet equanimity and faith in death 
and bereavement. They have also great power over many thought- 
ful people in their theory of the Scriptures, and in the wider ap- 
plication of the doctrine of " correspondences " throughout the 
relations of matter and spirit. There has been much intellectual 
sympathy between them and the Unitarians of this country, though 
there has been no formal expression of it. In their exclusion from 
the fellowship of " Evangelical " Christians, in their dissatisfaction 
with the doctrine of the literal infallibility of the Bible, in their 
search for a higher and wider interpretation of sacred history, in 
their denial of the Trinity and other doctrines held by the popular 
sects, and in their theories of the future life, we find much to 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 153 

accept. On the other hand, we cannot accede to the claims made 
for Swedenborg ; and we share with the rest of the world, even 
after a century of open and fair discussion, its denial of the 
" second sense " of the Scriptures. The latter is an old doctrine, 
running back to the Jewish scholars of the time of Jesus, and the 
Christian scholars of the third century, but always failing to gain 
support. It is but a temporary refuge for those who are driven 
from belief in the literal infallibility of the Scriptures ; and the 
spiritual beauty and elevation which it finds in so many plainly 
commonplace passages are evidently first transferred to them out 
of the revelations which the Spirit makes to-day. But the argu- 
ments which Swedenborg addresses directly to the reason of men 
are often of the highest value ; and no more beautiful, comforting, 
or reasonable ideas of the future life have ever been uttered than 
by him. He stands among the great religious teachers of history. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the popular name of this sect ? its official name ? Who was its 
founder ? Of what nation was he ? of what parentage ? In what was he 
first eminent ? When was his attention turned to religious matters V How? 
What course did he pursue ? What is his chief work ? What can you say 
of his character ? How were his views spread ? 

What is the New Church view of Swedenborg ? of the Trinity ? How 
does this differ from the popular doctrine V What is said of the relation of 
the two natures in Christ V of the inspiration of the Scriptures ? of the 
double meaning ? How is this applied to the world in general ? What is 
the doctrine of human nature ? of salvation ? of death ? of the relation 
between the living and the dead ? of the future life ? of the judgment ? of 
the second advent of Christ ? 

What can you say of the effect of New Church doctrines upon those 
believers whom you know? What is the feeling of Unitarians toward the 
New Church ? What points have they in common ? How do we differ 
from them as to Swedenborg? as to the " second sense " ? What is the 
history of this latter doctrine ? What use has it served ? How do you 
account for the satisfaction it gives V What great good has Swedenborg 
done ? 

REFERENCES. 

A good summary in Appleton's Encyclopaedia. The latest and presumably 
best life of Swedenborg is that by Benjamin Worcester, Boston, 1883, though 
there are several others. The later and larger biography of White is said 
to contain many slanders. See also Emerson's essay in Representative Men. 
The best brief exposition of the doctrine is James Reed's Swedenborg and 



154 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

the New Church, Boston, 1881, of which there is also a very cheap edition. 
Also good is Chauncey Giles's Why I am a New Churchman. Swedenborg's 
own works are, of course, the standards. The Arcana Ccelestia, in eight 
large volumes, is an exposition of the spiritual sense of Genesis and Exodus. 
The True Christian Religion contains a summary of doctrine, while Heaven 
and its Wonders and Hell goes into detail about the future life. A short 
summary in Swedenborg's own words is The New Jerusalem and its Heav- 
enly Doctrine as revealed from Heaven. The literature of the New Church 
is remarkably abundant, and may be learned from the catalogues of the 
publication societies. 



4. THE ADVENTISTS. 

Where is the promise of his coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all 
things continue as they were. — 2 Peter iii. 4. 

Adventists are those Christians who believe that the visible, 
personal second coming or advent of Christ is near at hand, and 
that at this coming the millennium, or thousand years' reign, will 
begin. They exist in several organizations, and are often called 
"Millerites," from their founder, William Miller. 

That Christ will soon come back was the belief of the first 
Christians, as shown by many passages in the Epistles. Though 
opposed by Jerome and Augustine, it reappeared at times through- 
out Christian history, being especially strong at the Reformation. 
The present organizations owe their beginning to William Miller, 
a native of Massachusetts and a Baptist, who began to preach his 
new views in the State of New York, in 1831. Followers multi- 
plied, camp-meetings and tent-meetings were held where churches 
or halls could not be had, and great excitement arose, which 
reached a climax when Miller set the date of the advent between 
March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. The date of the crucifixion, 
April 14, was a favorite. The failure of all prophecies was a 
blow to the cause, which had never been organized ; and at 
Miller's death, in 1849, the number of believers decreased still 
faster. But an organization had been begun four years before 
at Albany, around which a new sect gathered. 

All Adventists are Evangelical in main points of doctrine, and 
congregational in church government. They all believe in the 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 155 

visible and speedy personal coming of Christ, though at an 
uncertain time ; in the resurrection of the righteous dead then ; 
in their reign with Christ during the millennium, while the earth 
is being set in order and the wicked subdued ; and in the Judgment 
to follow. All baptize by immersion. 

1. The " Evangelical Adventists " represent the original body. 
They hold to the natural immortality of the soul, the conscious 
state of the dead, and the conscious eternal suffering of the 
wicked. They number about five thousand. 

2. The "Advent Christians " broke from the main body, in 
1854, on the question of date. They deny that the immortality 
of the soul is natural, and affirm that it is the gift of Christ, and 
only to believers; that, therefore, the wicked will be destroyed, 
and will not suffer eternally. They number about thirty thousand. 

3. The Seventh-Day Adventists have their headquarters at 
Battle Creek, Michigan. They originated in the " visions " of 
" Sister White," of Palmyra, Maine, which are regarded as spiritual 
manifestations. They believe that Christ is at work cleansing the 
heavenly sanctuary " from the presence of our sins, imparted to 
it through the blood of Christ there ministered in our behalf.' ' 
When this is finished he will come back, but the time is uncer- 
tain. The law of Moses is still valid, including the Sabbath on 
the seventh day. They practise the washing of feet and the kiss 
of peace at the Lord's Supper. They number nearly thirty 
thousand, compactly organized. They are zealous opponents of 
intoxicating liquor and tobacco. 

There are also smaller sects, as "Life and Advent Union " and 
" Age-to-come Adventists," both of which reject the eternal 
torture of the wicked, and the " Church of God " in Missouri 
founded on a very insignificant divergence from the doctrine of 
the Seventh-Day Adventists. The three have together about 
nine thousand members. 

All these bodies are careless of educational matters, having 
scarcely any institutions of learning. There is little church 
property, but much publishing of books, tracts, and periodicals. 
The ministers usually labor during the week, and so support 
themselves. 



156 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

There is also an association called " The Baptist Conference 
for Bible Study," organized in Chicago in the spring of 1890, 
which consists of Baptists who look for a second coming of 
Christ. They set no date, and do not regard it as necessarily 
near, but make it a sort of third dispensation. What the Old 
Testament dispensation was to the New Testament, the present 
stage of revelation is to that of the Advent. Without this the 
sin and infidelity of the world can never be overcome. At his 
coming Christ will " set up his kingdom in person, and sway his 
sceptre over the empires of the world for one thousand years, sub- 
duing evil, and crushing out wickedness." Then will come the 
Judgment- There are also many Presbyterians who hold the 
same views. In neither case is there any intention or desire to 
form a separate body, and they must be carefully distinguished 
from the sectarian Adventists. The " Irvingites " or " Catholic 
Apostolic Church " in England also look for the coming of Christ 
to precede the millennium. 



The earliest documents of Christianity contain a clear expecta- 
tion of the return of Jesus before his generation had passed away 
(1 Thess. iv. 1:3-18; 1 Cor. vii. 29-31, xv. 51,52; Phil, i v. 5 ; 
James v. 8; 2 Peter iii. 1-13; and the Apocalypse generally). 
That this expectation was founded upon the words of Jesus or 
some misunderstanding of them is also clear from many passages 
in the Gospels (Matt. x. 7, 23 ; xxiv. 3-51, especially 34, xxv. ; 
xxvi. 29; Luke ix. 27). These limit us to three theories, — either 
that these passages are to be taken in a figurative sense, or 
that they have been misreported, or that Jesus himself mistook 
the time or manner of his return. The first two probably unite 
in the fact. Jesus may have spoken of the establishment of his 
cause upon the earth as his own second coming; but there is much 
of his language that cannot be fairly so understood, and it may 
be that it has suffered in passing through the minds of those who 
heard him, and of those who recorded his words. If the Advent- 
ists, and indeed most Evangelical Christians, are right in under- 
standing him to have meant a personal return to the earth, the 
assertion of Jesus and his Apostles that this would happen within 
their generation, and before those who heard it were all dead, 
remains irreconcilable with historic facts. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 157 

The belief formed undoubtedly one of the rally in g-points and 
mainstays of the first Christians, and its gradual and quiet death 
was a most remarkable result of the earthly success of the new 
religion. In spite of its many revivals, it has no serious place in 
practical Christian faith now. Indeed, it seems to many a pessi- 
mistic doctrine, as if the Christian revelation and the agencies it 
has set at work in the world were failures, or sadly insufficient, 
and a new start were necessary. To the more thoughtful mind 
the coming of Christ is an inward and gradual fact, — not a 
failure, but an increasing success, though not as swift as we could 
wish. u Even so come, Lord Jesus ! " 



QUESTIONS. 

Who are the Adventists ? What other name is often given them ? How 
old is their main doctrine ? Who revived the belief in this century? Give 
an account of the circumstances. What doctrines are held by all Adventists 
in common? Who are the ''Evangelical Adventists"? The "Advent 
Christians''? The "Seventh-Day Adventists 1 '? What other bodies do 
you recall ? What peculiarities have they all ? What Adventists exist 
in other bodies ? 

Is any belief in the second advent of Christ to be found in the New 
Testament ? What texts of this tenor can you recall? What three theories 
in regard to these texts may be held ? Which seems to you most probable ? 
What did the belief in the second coming of Christ do for primitive Chris- 
tianity ? Has it any use for us ? What is the true doctrine ? 

REFERENCES. 

Articles in McClintock, American Cyclopaedia, etc. ; The Reign of Christ 
by D. T. Taylor ; History of the Second- Advent Message, by J. C. Wellcome ; 
History of the Sabbath and First Day, by John Nevins Andrews ; Thoughts 
on Daniel and the Revelation. 






158 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

Section III. 
THE LIBERAL PROTESTANT SECTS. 

1. THE UNIVERSALISTS. 

As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. — 1 Cor. 

xv. 22. 

Name. — A Universalist is one who believes in universal salva- 
tion ; that is, the ultimate perfection and blessedness of all human 
beings. The name " Restorationist " is older, but has in later 
times been restricttd to those who hold to a probability of future 
punishment before ultimate salvation, as opposed to those who 
believe that all men reach heaven at once after death. 

History. — Many of the most prominent of the earlier Chris- 
tians, especially Origen, in Alexandria (185-254), believed that 
all men would finally be saved. But the great influence of Saint 
Augustine (354-430) prevailed, and the doctrine sank almost 
out of sight till after the Reformation. It did not come into 
prominence till the last century. James Relly, a preacher of 
Calvinistic Methodism under Whitefield, at last carried his view 
of predestination so far as to believe that God would see that all 
men were saved. By his writings John Murray was converted, 
and became the father of American Universalism as a body ; 
though there was a good deal of latent belief in the doctrine, and 
May hew and Chauncy, of Boston, had openly preached it in the 
middle of the century. Landing in America in 1770, Murray 
founded the first Universalist Church in Gloucester, Mass., in 1 779, 
becoming minister of the church in Boston in 1793, and dying as 
such in 1815. Following Rellv, he taught election in this life, 
— that the elect go directly to heaven at death. The non-elect are 
purified by fire till the Judgment Day, when they find that they 
too are saved by the atonement of Christ. Elhanan Winchester, 
of Philadelphia, thought the interval would be about forty-four 
thousand years. Murray was a Trinitarian of the modal or 
Sabellian type, maintaining one God in three manifestations, 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 159 

but not divided into three persons. He was thus a thorough 
Calvinist, except that he widened predestination to include all 
mankind. 

The preaching of Hosea Ballou, which began in 1790, marked 
a new era. He was practically a Unitarian in all points — though 
believing Jesus to be divinely sent and endowed — except that he 
taught that all men were saved at death. There would be no 
future punishment, except for future sins. This doctrine proved 
more popular than Murray's, and the sect grew more rapidly. 
A minority, however, still clung to belief in punishment hereafter, 
and their view seems now to have become the prevailing one. 
Probably few, if any, Universalists hold to immediate universal 
salvation at death. 

The doctrine of " eternal hope " has also found many advocates 
in the Church of England, who claim that the omission of the 
article on eternal penalty in the revision of the Articles under 
Elizabeth allows this latitude. Stanley, Kingsley, Maurice, 
Farrar, Robertson, and many others have held to the 7wpe, 
though not to the certainty of universal restoration, — a hope 
which is widely cherished among other Evangelical Christians, 
though not always openly proclaimed. 

Doctrines. — Universalism, as we have seen, has passed 
through an almost complete transformation. Beginning as Cal- 
yinism, it has become Unitarian and liberal. Like many other 
sects, it has a conservative and a liberal party, in which the trans- 
formation is seen in different stages, but the liberal tendency 
seems to be rapidly gaining ground. 

The nominal standard of belief is the " Profession of Faith " 
adopted at Winchester, N. H., in 1803. Murray was then living, 
and the creed bears the marks of a compromise between the old 
and the new phases of belief. It probably does not represent ex- 
actly the position of even the majority of the denomination, but 
as usual, it has been found difficult to make satisfactory changes 
in a form of faith once settled. 

Article I. — We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and XeW 
Testaments contain a revelation of the character of God, and of the duty, 
interest, and final destination of mankind. 



160 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

Article IL — We believe that there is one God, whose nature is Love, 
revealed in one Lord, Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of Grace, who will 
finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness. 

Article III — We believe that holiness and true happiness are insepa- 
rably connected, and that believers ought to be careful to maintain order 
and practise good works; for these things are good and profitable unto 
men. 

As to the Bible, great latitude of opinion exists, from those who 
hold the older view of its textual infallibility to those who see in 
it the record of a progressive revelation to a people peculiarly 
fitted to receive it, but a revelation neither perfect nor final. The 
Trinity is generally rejected, and the essential humanity of Jesus 
believed, there being some diversity as to the extent to which he 
was supernaturally endowed and guided. Perhaps more emphasis 
is laid by the average Universalist upon the official station of 
Jesus, as in a special sense a son of God and redeemer of men, 
than by other Liberals. As to the future life, there is general 
agreement as to the probability of some kind of future discipline 
for those who are not sufficiently purified by the penalties and 
sufferings of this life ; but the belief in the final restoration of all 
to " holiness and true happiness" is emphatic and universal. 
This is their distinctive doctrine. 

Their worship is, like that of most Protestants, unliturgical, 
prayer being extemporaneous, though there is a growing tendency 
to the antiphonal reading of the Psalms. 

Government. — The Universalists have retained from their 
primitive Calvinism a tendency to a presbyterian form of church 
polity. They are not strictly congregationalists. The supreme 
body is the " General Convention," which is made up of delegates 
from the various " State Conventions." It has established the 
" Profession of Faith " as the creed of the denomination, and 
makes it a condition of fellowship in itself or in the State Con- 
ventions, of the ordination of ministers, and of admission to 
membership in the churches. The State Convention is made 
up of a minister, two delegates, and one additional delegate for 
every fifty members over the first fifty from each church in its 
fellowship. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 161 

Statistics. — The Universalists are practically an American 
body, the only churches outside this country being two in 
Scotland. There are here (1889) 721 churches, containing 
38,780 members and holding about $8,000,000 of property, and 
having 53,000 in their Sunday-schools. They are strongest in 
Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Vermont, Ohio, and Illinois. 
They do not increase much, if at all, in numbers, though they are 
said to be more active than formerly in church and denominational 
life. They have 3 theological schools, 4 colleges, 5 academies, 
and 7 periodicals, besides Sunday-school papers. The " Univer- 
salis Record," recently established, represents the influential and 
increasing liberal element. 






The Universalists and the Unitarians are commonly called 
together "Liberal Christians." The differences between them 
are small and are growing smaller. Both have changed very 
much since their modern reappearance. The Universalists, be- 
ginning as Calvin ists, have become Unitarian at almost every 
point, while the Unitarians, beginning with an aversion to the 
doctrine of universal restoration, many with an actual belief in 
eternal punishment, have all come to hold at least the eternal 
hope. The differences which remain may be summed up as 
follows: — 

1. Universalists lay more stress on dogmatic belief than Unita- 
rians, having their common creed, and generally a very vivid and 
positive opinion on its various points. They have always been 
fond of textual controversy, as well as of argument on grounds of 
reason and conscience. 

2. They emphasize the supernatural element in religion more 
fully, — the divine mission and endowment of Jesus, the excep- 
tional inspiration of the Bible, the agency of God in bringing all 
men to goodness in the end; while Unitarians have seen more 
clearly the moral and spiritual excellencies of Jesus and of the 
Bible, and the power of man over his own destiny. 

3. As to the future life, the Universalist says that all men will 
be saved, while the Unitarian says that he hopes they may. The 
Universalist retains so much of his Calvinism as to emphasize the 
sovereignty of God even to predestination ; while the Unitarian, 
in his respect for the power of the human will, even for evil, 
seeing that characters are often still diverging as they go out of 
this world, feels a certain sad reserve in his trust in their union 
hereafter. 

11 



162 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

4. As the Universalist still leans toward Orthodoxy in his love 
of dogma, so be does in his loyalty to the outward institutions of 
religion. He is more faithful in attendance at church, more likely 
to become a "member," more fond of baptism and the communion, 
more interested in prayer-meetings. 

5. But probably the real cause of the separate existence of the 
two bodies lies in their separate origin and history. The Uni- 
tarians were at first simply a section of the old Congregational 
body, the established church of New Engkind, broken off in con- 
troversy, and carrying away bodily most of the oldest church 
organizations, with their wealth, social prestige, scholarly tradi- 
tions, and general conservatism of temperament. The Univer- 
salists were an entirely new body, raised by earnest though not 
always well-educated preachers out of sturdy and fearless stock 
in the middle class. They were the " Roundheads " of the 
Liberal movement, and have always had more influence upon the 
mass of people than their Unitarian co-workers. Out of this 
difference have grown many considerations which kept the two 
bodies apart in the past. Now those considerations are disap- 
pearing, and the two movements keep apart merely because they 
began so. The union of the two is devoutly to be wished, and 
must some day be accomplished. 

The Universalists have been prominent in social reforms, and 
are always good fighters. They were active in the anti-slavery 
movement, and are zealous in temperance and woman suffrage. 

QUESTIONS. 

What does the name " Universalist " mean? what " Restorationist " ? 
What place had this doctrine among the earlier Christians V Who was its 
greatest champion V its greatest opponent ? Who was its modern reviver ? 
What was his history ? How did it influence his belief ? Who was the 
father of American Universalism ? What were his doctrines ? Who suc- 
ceeded him as leader? What change did he effect V How far is his view 
of the future life still held? What advocates has the "eternal hope" 
elsewhere ? 

What tendency is gaining ground now ? What do you mean by this ? 
What is the nominal standard of faith? What do you see in Article II. of 
the nature of a compromise ? What is the belief about the Bible ? about 
the Trinity ? about Jesus ? about the future life ? What is their worship ? 
What is their form of government ? What power has the General Conven- 
tion ? How does all this differ from our own polity ? 

What are Universa'ists and Unitarians together called ? How have they 
both changed ? What beliefs have they in common now? How do they 
differ as to dogmatic belief ? how as to supernaturalism ? how as to the 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 163 

future life ? how as to outward religion ? What can you say of their origin? 
Who were the "Roundheads"? How were the Universalists like them? 
How were the Unitarians like the "Cavaliers"? Have these differences 
increased, or not ? What position have the Universalists taken toward 
social reforms V Do you know many Universalists V Have you found any 
difference between them and ourselves ? Do you think they are likely to 
grow ? How far do you think their main doctrine is held in other bodies ? 
What effect would this have upon the growth of Universalists? Do you 
think all men likely to be saved? Why? What influence do you think 
this belief would have upon people generally? If men resist God here, 
what reason is there for thinking that they will yield to him hereafter ? 
What does the Bible say ? 

REFERENCES. 

The best exposition of average Universalism is T. B. Thayer's Theology 
of Universalism. The views of the liberal party are given in a recent 
work, called Essays Doctrinal and Practical, by several clergymen. The 
Lives of John Murray, Hosea Ballou, and T. B. Whittemore are useful in 
history. See also McClintock and Strong, Fisher's Index, and Encyclopaedia 
Britannica. 



2. THE UNITARIANS. 

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you 

all. — Eph. iv. 6. 

Name. — The word Unitarian is now commonly used to 
designate those who believe in the unity of the personality of 
God, as distinct from the Trinitarians, who believe in three divine 
Persons. The origin of the name is disputed, but it seems to 
have appeared first in Hungary, in the (new) Latin form of Uni- 
tarius, about 1570. It was first officially used in Transylvania in 
1638, and the English word is now so used by the Associations of 
England and America also, though it is not found till 1687. The 
common names for Unitarians were at first Anti-trinitarians, 
Avians, Socinians, Racovians, and others. In this country they 
are often called Unitarian Congregationalists, as being the Unita- 
rian branch of the Congregationalist body since the division at 
the beginning of this ( entury. In England, for a similar reason, 
they are often called Presbyterians. 



164 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

History. — Unitarianism, considered as the doctrine of the 
unity of the Godhead, is older than Christianity. The Jews were 
in this sense Unitarians, when they had emerged from polytheism. 
Jesus and his Apostles were therefore brought up in this faith, and 
nothing but the plainest proof should allow any one to believe 
that they ever departed from it. That the earliest Christians did 
not believe in the Trinity is shown not only by the New Testa- 
ment, but by the fact that the last remnant of the Jewish Chris- 
tians, the Ebionites, believed in the unity of God, till they vanished 
in the fifth century. The development of the doctrine of the 
Trinity (see pp. 24-28) had to fight its way to success ; and when 
the Arians were officially denounced at the Council of Nicasa in 
325, they were almost, if not quite, as numerous as their victorious 
opponents. 

Unitarianism, however, reappeared with the Reformation. Its 
martyrs began with Adam Duff, who was executed in Dublin in 
1326, and the last man burned for heresy in England was Edward 
Wightman, a Unitarian, in 1612. The most celebrated of the 
Unitarian martyrs was Michael Servetus (Miguel Serveto), a 
Spaniard, who was burned at Geneva in 1553 at the instigation 
of John Calvin. Of far greater influence upon Unitarian doctrine 
and history were Laelio and Fausto Sozzino, better known under 
their Latin names, Lselius and Faustus Socinus, uncle and nephew. 
The former had the finer mind; the latter was the more active 
teacher, and from him came the name Socinianism, under which 
the Unitarianism of the Reformation days was generally known. 
He taught, however, that Christ, though not pre-existing, became 
God by his goodness, and is, therefore, now to be worshipped; 
and held other doctrines which Unitarianism to-day would re- 
ject. Under his leadership, Socinianism became the belief of a 
wealthy, cultivated, and powerful body in Poland, of which the 
king was a member. But under the Catholic reaction all kinds of 
Protestantism were swept out of Poland, and Socinianism never 
has regained a footing there. It had also been brought to Tran- 
sylvania by Lselius Socinus ; and there, though much reduced at 
one time by Catholic oppression, it still survives with some pros- 
perity. The seed planted in Italy, France, Switzerland, and Hoi- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 165 

land, though at first seeming to flourish, died out under the 
combined hostility of Catholic and Protestant enemies. 

The most prosperous bodies of Unitarians to-day are in England 
and the United States. Socinianism was introduced into England 
by Bernardino Occhino, Faustus Socinus, and others of their 
generation, and it flickered more or less plainly through the six- 
teenth century, The first church was established about 1645 by 
John Bidle, who is called the " Father of English Unitarianisin." 
He died in prison, whither he had been sent on account of his 
belief ; but other churches sprang up, and their doctrine spread 
quietly but widely in the Church of England. Milton, Newton, 
Locke, and other famous men were Unitarians of various shades. 
But more Unitarians came from the Presbyterians than from any 
other body, nearly half of the churches of this faith now existing 
in England having been once Presbyterian, many of them still 
retaining that name. 

The founder of the present organized body of English Unitarians 
was the Rev. Theophilus Lindsey, who left the Church of England 
and gathered a Unitarian congregation in Essex Street, London^ 
in 1774, which included many noted people. He was followed 
the next year by Dr. Joseph Priestley, famous as a man of science, 
and especially as the discoverer of oxygen. The law at that time 
held the denial of the Trinity to be blasphemy, and it was not 
until 1813 that Unitarians were placed on a level with other Dis- 
senters. The denomination has continued to flourish, and now 
holds a respected place among Protestant bodies. There are also 
some strong churches in the north of Ireland and in Wales, and a 
few in Scotland. 

In the United States Unitarianism began in New England and 
is still strongest there, though rapidly spreading of late in the 
West. Its history may be divided into four periods, — formation, 
separation, vocation, and organization. Its formation was quiet, 
gradual, and long. It extends from early New England history 
down to the year 1819, when the Unitarian churches first assumed 
a separate existence. The chief events of this time were the 
"Half-way Covenant" and the " Great Awakening," and the 
leading liberal was Charles Chauncy, minister of the First Church 



166 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

in Boston. The Half-way Covenant of 1662 set aside the old idea 
of a converted church membership and admitted to the church 
those who had been baptized in infancy, who did not deny the doc- 
trines, and were not of scandalous life. They were not, however, 
allowed to come to the communion ; hence the name of the measure. 
The result was the dilution of the old Calvinistic theology in pew 
and pulpit, and Arminianism made great strides in New England. 
To counteract this state of things Jonathan Edwards stimulated a 
fa revival " at Northampton in 1735, which was renewed in 1740 
by Whitefield, the great English Methodist preacher, by Gilbert 
Tennent in New Jersey, and by others. This latter revival was 
known as " The Great Awakening." It aroused the churches 
and increased their membership; led to the abolition by most 
churches of the Half-way Covenant and the restoration of a con- 
verted membership and ministry. But by its appeal to the emo- 
tions and its obvious inconsistency with predestination, it made 
the way easier for the very Arminianism it was intended to check, 
when it came in the form of Methodism. Still further, it forced 
people to take sides. The revival of Calvinism had reminded 
New England again of what that grim system really was ; the ex- 
cesses of the revival meetings and the meddlesome disposition of 
many of the revival preachers awoke an opposition, especially in 
Eastern New England, among the cultivated and influential 
classes. From this time Unitarianism began to develop from 
mere Arminianism. The first minister known to have been Uni- 
tarian was Ebenezer Gay of Hingham (1695-1787). The first 
minister whose doubt of the Trinity was published was Jonathan 
Mayhew of Boston, who, in 1755, added a note to that effect to 
one of his printed sermons. The first church to become openly 
Unitarian was King's Chapel (Episcopal). The congregation, 
finding in 1787 that their new minister, James Freeman, was 
Unitarian, ordered all phrases inconsistent with that belief to be 
expunged from the Prayer Book. 

The new doctrines spread fast, but were not openly preached. 
The reasons for this silence were that the liberals were not yet 
clear in their own minds, disapproved of controversy, believing 
the dogmas in question not of as much importance as their oppo- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 167 

nents claimed, shrank from precipitating a break in tlie old 
Congregational body, and were not willing to have the name 
"Unitarian" which was borne in England bv men with whose 
doctrines they did not agree, thrust unjustly upon them. They 
therefore emphasized the value of the Christian character, and 
simply omitted the disputed doctrines from their preaching. The 
appointment of Henry Ware, to be Hollis Professor of Di- 
vinity in Harvard College roused great excitement, as it showed 
that the College itself had now come under the control of the new 
faith. At length it became evident to the leaders of the Unitarian 
party that the evils of cunti oversy would be less than those of 
silence; and in 1819, at the ordination of Jared Sparks in Balti- 
more, William Ellery Channing, minister of the Federal Street 
Church in Boston, preached a sermon defining and defending the 
Unitarian faith. 

This began the period of separation, which extends to the 
Parker controversy, in 1841, Its leader was Dr. Channing, 
though he was disinclined to close denominational organization. 
The Baltimore sermon was followed by declarations of belief all 
over Xew England ; and soon it was found that about one hun- 
dred and twenty-five churches, most of them among the oldest 
and strongest of the Congregational body, were Unitarian. The 
question whether " church" or " parish " owned the property had 
been settled by the " Dedham case " in favor of the latter, which, 
where there wis any difference between the two, was usually of 
the liberal faith. So began the Unitarian body. In social, politi- 
cal, educational, and literary circles it had an influence out of 
proportion to its numbers ; and to a remarkable extent the poets, 
historians, statesmen, and jurists of that day in this country were 
Unitarians. The clergy were scholarly; the laity cultivated, 
honorable, and philanthropic. Partly by temperament, partly 
by reaction, they shunned controversy, looked askance at any- 
thing like sectarianism, and disliked proselyting. The American 
Unitarian Association was formed in 1825, but not warmly 
supported. 

Into this quiet and happy but un progressive life of the churches 
Transcendentalism, or the idea that the soul has private and direct 



168 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

insight into truth, and may set aside all authority, came at first as 
an intruder. But it was now that Unitarianism first realized its 
vocation, or reason for separate existence. Hitherto it had based 
its faith, or thought it had, upon Bible texts. Henceforth it was 
to be the champion of the human reason and conscience, which 
the best in the Bible nourishes but must not contradict. The 
leaders of this period were Ralph Waldo Emerson, who touched 
Unitarianism in his famous " Divinity School Address," in 1838; 
and Theodore Parker, of We.^t Roxbury, whose sermon on " The 
Transient and Permanent in Christianity," in 1841, was the 
beginning of a sad and bitter controversy. In time, however, 
the two parties came to understand each other better, and to 
stand together in the "inner light." 

The period of organization showed the new life which had 
entered the body. The great events of this period have been the 
institution of the National Conference of Unitarian and other 
Christian Churches and of the local Conferences, in 1865, under the 
lead of Dv Henry W. Bellows, and in more recent years of many 
other instrumentalities, such as the Women's Alliance, the Church 
Building Loan Fund, Unity Clubs, Unitarian Clubs, and others. 
The American Unitarian Association has come into closer union 
with the churches by admitting their pastors and delegates to its 
Annual Meeting, and is supported with a generosity which in 
earlier days would have seemed impossible. The churches have 
multiplied, and Unitarianism is fast extending to all parts of the 
country. The decay of the old beliefs and the quiet leavening 
of the older sects with Unitarian principles have made the growth 
of the Unitarian body slower than it would have been if it had 
met with a more bitter opposition. But it grows at an increasing 
ratio, especially in the Wert and on the Pacific coast, while 
founding new churches still in New England. 

Government. — The American Unitarians are all congrega- 
tional in polity ; that is, they maintain the right of each church 
to regulate its own affairs. There is a strong tendency to inde- 
pendent action on the part of the churches, though of late years 
there is more inclination to a closer fellowship. The American 
Unitarian Association is a purely voluntary organization, consist- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 169 

ing of life members, who are maJe such by payment of fifty 
dollars, and of the delegates of churches which have contributed 
to its funds for two successive yea's or more. The Association is 
practically the missionary and executive arm of the denomina- 
tion. The National Conference and the local Conferences are 
also voluntary associations, the former meeting once in two years, 
the latter from one to three times a year. Their purpose is to 
awaken interest in the activities of the denomination, and to 
stimulate sympathy and the sense of fellowship by bringing 
together those of a common faith. They are not executive, and 
seldom undertake enterprises of their own. 

Doctrine. — Unitarians, being; congregational in church gov- 
ernment, have no common authoritative creed. The American 
Unitarian Association declares that its object " shall be to diffuse 
the knowledge and promote the interests of pure Christianity. " 
What is meant by " pure Christianity/' however, it does not 
define, nor does it claim the right to establish any conditions of 
fellowship. The constitution of the National Conference of Uni- 
tarian and other Christian Churches contains these statements : 

" Art. IX. Reaffirming our allegiance to the gospel of Jesus 
Christ, and desiring to secure the largest unity of the spirit and 
the widest practical co-operation, we invite to our fellowship all 
who wish to be followers of Christ. 

" Art. X. While we believe that the Preamble and Articles 
of our Constitution fairly represent the opinions of the majority 
of our churches, yet we wish distinctly to put on record our 
declaration that they are no authoritative test of Unitarianism, 
and are not intended to exclude from our fellowship any who 
while differing from us in belief are in general sympathy with our 
purposes and practical aims." 

The Western Unitarian Conference thus states its position : 

" We declare our fellowship to be conditioned on no doctrinal 
tests, and welcome all who wish to join us to help establish truth 
and righteousness and love in the world." 

No church, however, holds itself bound by any of these decla- 
rations, every church reserving the right to state its own belief, if 
it cares to do so. Many churches have " covenants " or state- 
ments of faith and purpose, generally very simple, which are used 



170 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

with varying interest. More extended and detailed definitions 
of Unitarianism have been issued by the American Unitarian 
Association in the form of books or tracts, but with the under- 
standing that they are not to be considered authoritative. 

The doctrines of the Unitarians have already been set forth in 
contrast with those of other sects. But this contrast may give 
the impression that Unitarianism is a mere negation, whereas in 
reality it denies and excludes less, affirms and includes more, 
than any other form of Christian faith. 

Unitarianism is rather a tendency than a fixed and definite set 
of opinions. It may be defined as the tendency to see God in the 
natural order of the world, material and spiritual, as distinguished 
from the Orthodox tendency to see Him only in isolated and ex- 
ceptional phenomena, persons, and expeiiences. Unitarianism is 
founded upon law, Orthodoxy upon miracles. Unitarianism be- 
lieves in the rule, Orthodoxy in the exceptions. Unitarianism 
sees the beauty and power of what Orthodoxy calls exceptions, 
but considers them as still under law, parts of the natural and 
divine order of the world, and as illustrations of what is true or 
may become true of all. This distinction will become clearer as 
it is applied to the separate doctrines. 

Fundamental to Unitarianism, and following from this tendency, 
is its trust in the dignity of human nature. It believes that it is 
neither hopelessly blinded aor helplessly corrupt, but that in 
spite of much weakness and selfishness it loves at heart both truth 
and goodness. 

Out of this come the two most distinctive principles of Unita- 
rianism, — reliance upon human faculties for the discovery of 
truth, and appreciation of the common virtues and graces of 
human life, — or as they are usually called, reason in religion and 
character before creed. 

By reason in religion is meant that the truth necessary for the 
right conduct of human life is revealed to and received by the 
'faculties which are common to all men, though they may exist in 
very different strength, and be capable of very different degrees 
of apprehension in different minds. The inspiration of the 
Almighty giveth all understanding, though all men are not able to 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 171 

receive the same amount. Orthodoxy denies this broad idea, and 
confines inspiration to certain individuals and to exceptional facul- 
ties in them, isolating these faculties from those common to hu- 
man nature by a difference not in degree but in kind. To these 
psalmists, prophets, evangelists, apostles, or other sacred persons 
is given the power to perform miracles ; that is, to do in the physi- 
cal world what no man could do without divine aid. Revelation is 
thus made a rare act of God, and involves a change both in Nature 
and human nature. Orthodox Protestantism thus confines reve- 
lation to Bible times and personages, though it asserts the con- 
tinued action of the Holy Spirit in opening the deeper meaning 
of the Bible to the eyes of faith. The Roman Catholic, while be- 
lieving the Bible to be a special divine revelation, maintains that 
revelation continues, but only through the equally divine Church. 
The Unitarian tends to unite these two views, rejecting their nega- 
tions. The revelations made through the Bible and through the 
Church both contain divine truth, but God is not shut within either 
Bible or Church. He strives everywhere and always to make Him- 
self and His truth known to men; and the science, philosophy, 
history, poetry, and all other forms of the mental activity of to-day 
may be the instruments of His revelation. Infallibility is impossi- 
ble in human life, as is proved most clearly by the errors and sins 
of those who most proudly claim to have infallible authority for 
their beliefs. But revelation, the unveiling of truth, is a constant 
process. Unitarianism, therefore, looks to the natural operation 
of the human mind for truth, and holds itself in sympathy with 
all sincere thought, and in readiness for new revelations. Nor 
does it believe that God must break the laws of Nature to make 
Himself known. On the contrary, it is in those laws that He is 
best seen. The real miracle is the order and harmony of the 
whole, not the disturbance of any part ; and the way to a deeper 
knowledge of God lies not in being startled now and then by 
some exceptional thing, but by studying reverently and patiently 
the world as it is. 

The other distinctive principle of Unitarianism, and one more 
generally understood than the first, is the value set upon the vir- 
tues and graces which sweeten and strengthen common life. The 



172 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

position of Orthodoxy is that these are not only worthless, but 
actually abhorrent to God, unless they are the results of certain 
beliefs and certain experiences. Unitarianism maintains that the 
fruits are not known by the tree, but the tree by the fruits ; and 
that love, justice, purity, patience, and the other virtues of a manly 
or womanly character have their value and their evidence in them- 
selves. It declines to consider only certain experiences as the 
effect of the Holy Spirit, — as the crises of " conversion," "re- 
vival" emotions, and the like, — but believes that It is seen in the 
common joys and sorrows, peace and struggle of humanity, ever 
urging men upward. And while Orthodoxy tends to emphasize 
certain " sacred " times, places, and ceremonies as if they were 
valuable in themselves or the unique channels of divine grace, the 
Unitarian values these only so far as they are of use to practical 
life. The sacredness often attributed to them alone he spreads 
over all earnest human life. Divine service is whatever serves 
Gol. Holy ground is wherever holy emotions come. Sacred 
times are all times when the soul burns with new faith or 
insight. 

These two principles, flowing from the main one, contain the 
essence of Unitarianism, and explain its minor doctrines. 

The Bible it considers as containing words of God, but not His 
entire Word, or all that He wishes men to know. Moreover, since 
the truth it contains came through human channels, it is more or 
less mingled with error. The discernment of the truth is made 
by the reason and conscience of to-day under the constant en- 
lightenment of the Holy Spirit. 

The Church is the association of men for religious purposes, 
and has no authority but that of the truth it teaches, and no use 
except to purify and strengthen daily life. 

About Jesus Unitarians widely differ. There are still some 
Arians, who hold him to have been a being superior to man though 
subordinate to God. There are others who look upon him as a 
man endowed with superhuman powers, entrusted with a mission 
differinG:; in kind from any other ever given to man, and exercising 
an author ty to which reason and conscience must bow. But the 
strong tendency of Unitarians generally is to consider him as in 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 173 

all respects a man, though with a spiritual insight and moral 
power which, while really differing only in degree from those 
given to all men, are in degree so far above those of all other 
men as to set him by himself in human hi-tory. This inclusion 
in humanity, however, must not be taken as degrading Jesus, 
since Unitarians hold a higher conception of human nature than 
the Orthodox, but as marking the possible elevation of humanity. 
He is not " mere man," but more man. Unitarians believe that 
God was in Jesus, but that He is in all men. Jesus at once reveals 
God to man and man to himself. He glorifies our common human 
nature. He teaches that love, fidelity, patience, cheerfulness, are 
divine qualities, and that the line between divine and human, 
which the ancient councils found it so hard to draw in the nature 
of Jesus, is as uncertain in every earnest human soul. Jesus is 
not an exception, save in degree, but a bright illustration of the 
possibilities of human nature. Unitarians therefore reject the 
Trinitv, and all the doctrines which cluster about the dosjma-of 
the Deity of Christ. 

The atonement is considered by Unitarians as a natural process. 
By his imperfections and sins man removes himself from God ; 
and all £Ood influences, including: those which flow from the life 
and character of Jesus, bring him back into the divine likeness, 
and into harmony with the divine will. The office of Jesus lies in 
no arbitrary arrangement with God by which the innocent is sub- 
stituted for the guilty. All the conceptions of the atonement held 
by the Orthodox seem to the Unitarian to subvert the fundamental 
principles of justice, to confuse the conscience, and to dishonor 
God. The life and death of Jesus have had a powerful influence 
upon the minds, hearts, and souls of men, but this has come by 
the natural working of moral and spiritual laws, and in ways which 
all truth and goodness follow when they affect human life. Sal- 
vation is not rescue from any external peril, but from sin and 
weakness within. Holiness is wholeness and healthiness, and is 
accomplished not by means outside of practical life, but by doing 
justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God every day. 
Conversion may be hastened by special influences or experiences, 
but is more likely to come gradually. Not believing in the essen- 



174 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

tial depravity of human nature, Unitarians do not look for that 
complete revolution which the Orthodox logically must aim at, 
but for a quiet and steady evolution of the germs of truth and 
goodness into such development as is possible in this life. They 
therefore distrust "revivals." 

The future life Unitarians consider a natural continuance of the 
earthly life. Death is not a moral crisis, but an event common to 
all living things, a purely physical change. Unitarians are very 
reluctant to indulge the imagination in depicting the details of the 
future life, holding that life freed from the body and from the 
circumstances of the earth is beyond our power to conceive with 
certainty. But they maintain with great firmness that the char- 
acter begins there as it ends here, and that the laws of the moral 
nature, not being conditioned by space or time, continue in force 
after death. The Orthodox division of all men into saints and 
sinners, " fixed in an eternal state," they reject as most unjust as 
well as unwarranted in reason. The moral life will be as varied, 
as capable of progression and change, as here. Whether all men 
will reach perfect happiness and holiness, is a question which the 
Unitarian refuses to decide. The mystery of human freedom 
must always veil its future results. Nor can the Unitarian be- 
lieve in the " Judgment " so often pictured by the Orthodox, an 
arbitrary decree by which men are sent to the righl or the left 
according to some other standard than that of character. Each 
soul will gravitate to its place according to its real condition. 

In worship, Unitarians commonly preserve the simplicity and 
directness of the Congregationalists, from whom they have in this 
country descended. Prayer is extemporaneous, though a very few 
congregations have a liturgy* There is an increase in the use of 
antiphonal psalms ; and an attempt is making, under the auspices 
of the American Unitarian Association, to compile a book which 
shall be acceptable to those who wish a liturgical service. 

The faults most frequently attributed to Unitarians, — their 
neglect of stated worship and their ignorance of theology, — while 
they are to be admitted and deplored in some measure, follow natur- 
ally from that very breadth of faith which has been described as 
their characteristic, and which it is their privilege to hold and their 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 175 

mission to teach. As all life is seen to have possibilities of sacred- 
ness, and all duty to be divine service, " sacred " times and places 
must seem less important than to those who tend to concentrate 
sacredness upon them. And as all truth takes on a divine aspect, 
opinions about historical and speculative matters, most of which 
seem to be of little real use even to those who have most definite 
views about them, must retire more into the background. While, 
therefore, the Unitarian cannot afford to neglect any means of 
spiritual culture, or any truth that concerns the spiritual welfare 
of mankind, he must rejoice in that sympathy with all truth, with 
all goodness, and with all earnest life which his faith makes possi- 
ble to him. The Orthodox, so the Unitarian thinks, buys his devo- 
tion to sect and church and definite creed at the cost of breadth 
in love and hospitality to truth. 

Statistics. — ("Year-Book" of 1891). There are in this 
country 424 churches and 459 ministers. There are 24 local 
Conferences, and the National Alliance of Unitarian and other 
Liberal Christian Women has 75 branches. 

There are also a Sunday-School Society, besides three local 
societies for the same purpose, a Temperance Society, a National 
Bureau of Unity Clubs, several associations of ministers, etc. 
The American Unitarian Association received in 1890-1891 
$54,440, the Women's Alliance $3,110, and the Sunday-School 
Society $3,700. The Church Building Loan Fund has $18,400 
with which it aids societies in the erection of churches. A 
Unitarian mission is sustained in Japan. There is one nomi- 
nally Unitarian theological school, at Meadville, Pa., besides the 
Divinity School of Harvard University, which has been made 
unsectarian, and devoted to the study of theology as a science. 
Another school is contemplated on the Pacific coast. There are 
five Unitarian periodicals, — the " Christian Register," of Boston, 
and " Unity," of Chicago (weekly), " Every Other Sunday/' of 
Boston (fortnightly), the "Unitarian" and the "Unitarian 
Review," both of Boston (monthly). 

In England, there are 273 churches, in Ireland 41, in Wales 31, 
in Scotland 10, and in Australia 3. There are three theological 
schools in the British dominions, — the largest, Manchester New 



176 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

College, being in Oxford, England; and three periodicals, — 
"The Christian Life," and " The Unitarian Herald" (weekly), 
and "The Christian Reformer " (monthly). The denomina- 
tion is represented by " The British and Foreign Unitarian 
Association." 

In Transylvania there are 165 churches, with 107 pastors and 
about 60,000 adherents. They are governed by a bishop, eight 
rural deans, and an ecclesiastical council of 350 members. They 
have a college at Koloscvar, with a theological school, and two 
middle schools. 

There are also thousands of professed or virtual Unitarians in 
Austria, Germany, Holland, France, Sweden, and Switzerland, and 
many even in Spain. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the origin of the name "Unitarian "? How is it now applied ? 
What other names have been given to Unitarians ? What are they often 
called in this country ? in England ? Why ? 

How old is Unitarianism ? What is its relation to Judaism ? to the early 
training of Jesus and the Apostles ? What right have we to believe that 
they retained it V that the early Christians held it V What was its greatest 
contest with Trinitarianism ? What was its subsequent fate? When did 
it reappear ? What martyrs to it can you name ? Who were its chief 
leaders at the Reformation ? What views did they hold? Where did Uni- 
tarianism flourish then ? Where else did it take root? Where is it most 
prosperous to-day ? 

Who brought Unitarianism to England ? Who founded its first church ? 
Who were famous English Unitarians ? From what body did many come ? 
Who founded the denomination in England ? Who deserves mention next 
after him? What was the position of Unitarianism before the law ? What 
is the condition of the body now ? Where else in British dominions has it 
churches ? 

Where did Unitarianism begin in the United States ? Into what four 
periods may it be divided ? What years does the first period cover ? What 
were its chief events ? Who was the leading spirit ? What was the " Half- 
way Covenant''? the " Great Awakening"? What was their effect? 
What influence had Jonathan Edwards in preparing the way for Unitarian- 
ism ? What faith was the stepping-stone to it ? Who was the first minister 
known to be Unitarian ? Who first published his Unitarianism? What 
was the first Unitarian church ? Why were Unitarian views not avowed at 
first ? What brought about the break with the old faith ? Who led it ? 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 177 

When and how did it begin ? What was the second period ? What was 
the "Dedham case"? What was the character of the first Unitarians? 
What was the third period ? Who were its leaders ? What works pro- 
claimed their views ? What has been their effect ? What was the fourth 
period ? Who was its leader ? What were its chief events ? What is the 
condition of Unitarianism in this country to-day ? 

What is the polity of the American Unitarians ? Into what bodies are 
they organized ? What is the difference between the Association and the 
National Conference V How do they differ from a Presbyterian synod ? 
Have Unitarians any common creed V Why ? W T hat is the declaration of 
the American Unitarian Association ? of the National Conference? of the 
Western Conference ? W T hat are the " covenants " of many churches? 

W^hat can you say to the charge that Unitarianism is a mere negation ? 
W T hy should the Orthodox think it is ? Must not all belief deny some- 
thing ? How may Unitarianism be broadly defined ? How does it differ 
in this from Orthodoxy V What fundamental principle follows from this? 
What two principles does this involve ? How are they commonly stated ? 
What is meant by "reason in religion" ? What are the Unitarian and 
Orthodox ideas of revelation ? Which is the broader ? Which honors 
God the more ? Compare the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Protestant, and 
Unitarian ideas on this point; on physical miracles. W'here does Unita- 
rianism find God in the universe? What is meant by " character before 
creed " ? Compare the Evangelical and the Liberal views of human nature ; 
of " sacred" times and places. 

What is the Unitarian view of the Bible? of the Church? of Jesus? 
W^hat is Arianism? Humanitarianism ? What view lies between these? 
To which view does Unitarianism tend ? Does this view degrade Jesus ? 
Why is it more repugnant to the Evangelical view of man than to ours ? 
How does Jesus elevate our idea of humanity ? Does the Unitarian believe 
that God was in Jesus? In what sense? What is the Unitarian view of 
the atonement ? of the Evangelical doctrines about it ? How have the life 
and death of Jesus affected humanity ? What is the Unitarian view of 
predestination? of conversion? of the future life? of death? of the future 
state ? of the variety of character hereafter ? of the ultimate fate of all 
souls ? of the "Judgment" ? What is the common form of worship among 
Unitarians ? W^hat exceptions do you know ? 

What are the faults most frequently charged upon Unitarians ? W^hat 
answer can you give ? 

REFERENCES. 

The best summary of the general history of Unitarianism is the American 
Unitarian Association tract by Rev. R. R. Shippen. E. H. Hall's scholarly 
Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Christian Church gives a fuller account. The 

12 



178 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

best short history of American Unitarianism may be found in tha opening 
chapters of W- C. Gannett's Life of Ezra Stilts Gannett. For longer 
accounts, see Unitarianism : Its Origin and History (Channing Hall Lectures, 
1888-89), J, H. Allen's admirable Oar Liberal Movement; George E. Ellis's 
Half Century of the Unitarian Controversy ; O. B. Erothingham's Boston 
Unitarianism, 1820 to 1850, and his Transcendentalism in New England ; 
the Unity Club lectures of 1890-91. A History of Religious Thought and 
Life in New England, edited by George W. Cooke, the Lives of Channing, 
Dewey, the Buckminsters, Parker, J. F. Clarke, etc. ; Sprague's Annals of 
the American Pulpit (Unitarian Congregationalists) ; Dorchester's Chris- 
tianity in the United States; Brooke Herford's The Story of Religion in 
England; and references in ecclesiastical histories and histories of doctrine. 
As to the doctrines of Unitarians, good summaries are to be found in the 
tracts of the American Unitarian Association; but no more beautiful account 
exists, especially to those who can see what is involved in it, than Dr. Chan- 
ning's sermon, Unitarian Christianity. See also J. F. Clarke's Manual of 
Unitarian Belief Essentials and N on- Essentials in Religion, Common Sense 
in Religion, The Ideas of the Apostle Paul, Vexed Questions in Theology, 
and Orthodoxy: Its Truths and Errors. The tendency of the denomination 
is seen in Dr. Hedge's Reason in Religion and his Ways of the Spirit, and still 
more fully and clearly in Martineau's Seat of Authority in Religion. The 
works of Channing, Parker, and Dewey, and the sermons of A. P. Peabody, 
J. H. Allen, J. W. Chadwick, and M. J. Savage represent various schools 
of thought within Unitarianism. English Unitarianism is stated in Unita- 
rian Christianity, a volumo of sermons by several preachers, Controversial 
books are Norton's Statement of Reasons for not believing the Doctrines of 
Trinitarians concerning the Nature of God and the Person of Christ, 
Wilson's Unitarian Principles confirmed by Trinitarian Testimonies, and 
Priestley's History of the Corruptions of Christianity. For books on special 
doctrines, see references in part ii. chap. i. Mr. Wendte's tract What do 
Unitarians believe ? has an appendix containing a valuable list of celebrated 
men and women who have been Unitarians. 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 179 

Part III. 

SECTS NOT CALLING THEMSELVES CHRISTIAN. 
1. THE SOCIETY FOR ETHICAL CULTURE. 

Yea, a man will say, Thou hast fakh and I have works : shew me thy 
faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will shew thee my faith. — 
James ii. 18. 

What is known as the " Ethical Movement " began with the 
formation of " The Society for Ethical Culture " in New York 
city, in 1876. Felix Adler, the son of a Jewish Rabbi in New 
York, and lecturer for a time on the Oriental languages and litera- 
ture in Cornell University, was the founder of this society. In 
1883 a similar society was founded in Chicago ; and others arose 
in Philadelphia and St. Louis in 1885 and 1886. In 1887 the 
" South Place Religious Society " of London became the " South 
Place Ethical Society." The same year witnessed the formation 
of the " Union of the Societies for Ethical Culture." The aim of 
the movement was declared in the constitution of this Union to be 
44 to elevate the moral life of its members and that of the commu- 
nity ; " and it " cordially welcomes to its fellowship all persons 
who sympathize with this aim, whatever may be their theological 
or philosophical opinions." The movement has no creed, and 
does not teach religion, if by religion is meant a conception of 
God. At the same time, it is not opposed to religion ; and its 
members and lecturers are free to take whatever religious standing- 
point seems reasonable to them. Some maintain that ethics is 
religion, by which is meant that genuine moral action is the 
means of connecting the finite soul with the Infinite. Others are 
complete secularists. The bond of fellowship does not lie in a 
special theological view or theory, but in a practical moral aim. 
Each society has a lecturer, or lecturers, and holds Sunday meet- 
ings for at least seven or eight months during the year. Supreme 
attention is given to various phases of personal and social morality. 
The movement has been distinguished from the outset by devotion, 
both theoretic and practical, to social reform. A workingman's 



180 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

school, district nursing, improved tenement bouses, neighborhood 
guilds, a bureau of justice, economic conferences between business 
men and working men, workingmen's self- culture clubs, are out- 
growths and illustrations of its spirit. 

The literature of the movement is for the most part in the form 
of pamphlet lectures; two books have appeared, Creed and Deed, 
by Felix Adler, 1877, and Ethical Religion, by William M. Salter, 
1889. Besides these are Die Religion der Moral, by Salter, 1885, 
Moralische Reden, by same, 1889, and Die Ethische Bewegung in 
der Religion, by Stanton Coit, lecturer of the London Society, 
1890, — all published in Germany. The movement published 
"The Ethical Record," Philadelphia, from April, 1888, to July, 
1890; this quarterly has now been enlarged into "The Inter- 
national Journal of Ethics" (Philadelphia and London), has Euro- 
pean as well as American editors and contributors, and ceases to 
be the organ of the Ethical Movement. 



At their roots, the Ethical Movement and rational Unitarianism 
are one. Both are based upon faith in the supreme authority of 
the sense of duty, and both aim at the production of moral life. 
The main difference between them is that Unitarianism emphasizes 
certain other doctrines, corollaries of faith in the moral law, espe- 
cially a personal God as the source of righteousness and immor- 
tality as its quality or consequence, while the Ethical Movement is 
silent upon these points. The Ethical Societies, therefore, omit 
prayer and praise from their public exercises, retaining only the 
sermon or " lecture " adding sometimes music and reading from ethi- 
cal writings, including the Bible ; and the lecture itself differs from 
a Unitarian sermon chiefly in the absence of reference to God and 
the future life, as well as to historical Christianity. The Ethical 
teaching seems to us, therefore, bare and undeveloped, if not weak, 
like an unsprouted root, — having real religious life, but not fur- 
nishing food enough for the practical needs of the soul. Belief in 
God and in an immortal opportunity have been considered necessary 
to man's highest spiritual life. To cut the vision of the present 
down to humanity, and the vision of the future to a merely human 
though developed career would impoverish human life. Nor can 
we forget in our admiration of the devotion of the Ethical Socie- 
ties to •* good works" that the Christian Church, both originally 
and now, cannot be said to have overlooked them. It no doubt 
deserves this rebuke to its many idle speculations, and to its fre- 
quent absorption in merely contemplative worship ; but it has also 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 181 

undertaken just as good and successful works as these. The 
practical energy of the new movement is itself the result of a 
general awakening of the conscience of the age, which is showing 
itself quite as plainly in the churches. Since, however, there are 
many earnest people in the world who cannot receive what are 
commonly called religious doctrines, and are not interested in 
historical Christianity, there is a sphere for the Ethical Societies 
which we wish them to occupy, and in which we bid them " God- 
speed,'' — all the more because our knowledge of their leaders 
convinces us that in the deepest and purest sense they too are 
religious, in so far, as the text above says, as they hold that 
" ethics is religion, by which is meant that genuine moral action 
is the means of connecting the finite soul with the Infinite." 
So far as the command of duty is seen to come from a source 
deeper than human experience or knowledge, it is a command of 
what we call ** God." 

QUESTIONS. 

What is mear.t by the word ethical? What is the difference between 
it and moral? How did the Ethical Movement begin ? What societies 
now exist ? How are they combined ? What is their object ? What is 
their relation to religion? What are their leaders called? What public 
exercises have the societies ? What good works have they undertaken ? 
What is the main objection to them from our standing-point ? What beliefs 
have commonly been held of value to human action ? What have we in 
place of them here ? Does the Ethical Movement undertake anything which 
churches may not do ? What faults in the churches does it practically re- 
buke ? What room has it in the world ? How far is it religious ? What 
good does religion do to you ? 



2. THE SPIRITUALISTS. 

In this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice 
because your names are written in heaven. —Luke x. 20. 

In the widest sense of the word a spiritualist is the opposite of a 
materialist ; that is, he is one who believes that spirit, not matter, 
is reality. In a more restricted sense it was once used to denote 
those who claimed to be under the direct guidance of the Holy 
Spirit. In the modern popular sense it means those who believe 
that the spirits of the dead can hold communication with the 
living through theil senses. 



182 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

This belief is as old as man ; for hardly a tribe of savages or 
a stage of human history has been found in which there has not 
been a belief in the presence of the souls of the departed and in 
their action upon the living. Some have claimed that this was 
the beginning of religion ; that is, of any belief in the super- 
natural. Instances of alleged communication are found through- 
out sacred and secular history. But the belief has found especial 
acceptance in the United States, and in the present century. 

It gained its most powerful stimulus from the experiences oi 
Margaret and Kate Fox, children of twelve and nine years of age, 
at Hydeville, Wayne County, New York, in March, 1848. Hear- 
ing strange rappings, they established by them communication 
with alleged spirits, by whose aid the skeleton of a murdered man 
was found in the cellar of their house. The two girls went about 
the country giving exhibitions of the strange phenomena, and 
arousing great excitement. In 1850 Daniel Dunglas Home ap- 
peared with mysterious powers, which attracted great attention in 
Europe as well as in this country. Since then great numbers of 
"mediums" have sprung up, who have done many different kinds 
of strange things by the aid, as they claimed, of spirits. In 1875 
Messrs. Crookes and Varley, well-known English men of science, 
and later the still more celebrated Alfred Russell Wallace, pro- 
claimed their belief in spiritual manifestations. In one form or 
another Spiritualism has a very large following; but due partly to 
the fact that it must be a private and not a public affair, as ordi- 
nary religious worship is, and partly to the reluctance of many to 
confess their belief, no estimate of the numbers of its adherents can 
be made. They are probably very large. It cannot be said that 
the confessed believers are commonly from the more intelligent 
classes. The world of science is almost solid against them, 
though it has generally refused to investigate. 

As Spiritualists are not organized, rarely even in congregations, 
they have no authoritative creed, and differ more or less in their 
belief. There is, beyond doubt, a large number of impostors, who 
play upon the credulity of the ignorant for selfish purposes. This 
is admitted and deplored by Spiritualists as well as by others. 
But that there is also a large number of quiet and sincere believ- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 183 

ers in the reality and value of communication with departed spirits 
must not be overlooked by the fair-minded. 

These believe that our spirits, when they leave our bodies, 
do not undergo any essential change. Their characters and 
tendencies remain the same ; and there is therefore among them 
the same great variety of goodness and wickedness, wisdom and 
ignorance, as when they were in the flesh. They are not sepa- 
rated, as the old theology maintained, into the perfectly good and 
the perfectly wicked. Nor is their condition fixed. Progress is 
open to them under the new influences, as well as under the con- 
tinued influence of the better spirits; and the occupations and 
duties entrusted to them in the "spirit-land" correspond to their 
fitness for them. But they retain their interest in the affairs of 
earth, and seek to take pait in them, especially in those of the 
persons whom they knew in the body. The good spirits wish them 
well, and try to warn, console, advise, and guide them. The evil 
spirits maliciously misinform, misdirect, and corrupt them, if they 
can. 

There is a state, called "sensitiveness," in which it is possible 
for mortals to perceive the presence of the spirits, and to commu- 
nicate with them. It is, as it were, a new sense, — "the heritage 
of all, yet manifested only at rare intervals by favored individuals. 
... It is a faculty pertaining to the spiritual nature, and is acute 
in proportion as that spiritual nature dominates the physical 
senses. ... It is variable in the same individual; is often the 
result of drugs, of fatigue, of sleep; and may be induced or 
intensified by hypnotism or mesmerism. ... It may have all 
degrees of acuteness, from impressibility scarcely distinguishable 
from the individual's own thoughts to the purest independent 
clairvoyance." Those who are " sensitive" to an unusual degree 
are called "mediums," as having an intermediate relation between 
the dead and the living. 

The character of the spirits thus communicating will vary, 
partly according to the personal character of the medium, and 
partly according to his sensitiveness. Spirits, out of the body as 
in it, seek their like. The evil spirits are also fond of playing 
tricks. Others are innocently roguish. Not all communications, 



184 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 

therefore, are valuable, any more than all words of mortals. The 
closeness of relationship with the spirits has also increased with 
the increasing sensitiveness of the mediums, which grows, like 
any other endowment, by cultivation and practice. Beginning 
with crude forms, as rappings and table-tippings, it has gone on 
through writing, the direct touch, speech, clairvoyance, clairaudi- 
ence, "materialization" or the assumption of human and other 
physical forms, to the seeming presence of the dead in their 
former shape, in broad daylight, and in every respect as real as 
when in the flesh, yet with added powers of appearance and dis- 
appearance which belong only to incorporeal beings. Spiritualists 
believe that only the development of sensitiveness is needed to 
make the spirit world capable of immense service to mankind, 
brino-ino- ever higher classes of beings to its aid. 

Spiritualists vary very much in other points of belief. Some 
make their confidence in spirit communications an addition to and 
explanation of much of Christianity, though they adopt a liberal 
form of that religion. To them Spiritualism explains much that 
seems strange in the Bible and in the history of religion, — the 
appearance of angels ; the inspiration of prophets, psalmists, and 
other writers of Scripture ; the miracles ; the evil spirits of the 
New Testament; the vision of Moses and Elias in the TransnVura- 
tion ; the saints coming from their graves at the Crucifixion ; the 
re-appearance of Jesus ; the alleged visions of the saints in 
Church history, etc. The strange facts of mesmerism, trances, 
hypnotism, dreams, the visions of the dying, premonitions, tele- 
pathy, and many such phenomena, which have long puzzled the 
minds of men, to them come under the head of " spiritual " action. 
Some interpret prayer as communion not with God directly, but 
with spirits who bear the message to Him. Others, however, 
begin and end their real religion with the alleged facts of spirit- 
ualism. The spirits are the only superhuman beings they believe 
in or have anything to do with. All else is unreal or unpractical. 



The difficulty with Spiritualism is that, like all miracles, visions, 
etc., it rests upon individual testimony. If a fact at all, it is a 
fact usually of individual experience. But all scientific investi- 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 185 

gation of human testimony has shown that it is never so unre- 
liable as when dealing with the alleged supernatural. So far 
from the senses being trustworthy ("seeing is believing" etc.), 
they are at times, especially when strange things are expected or 
feared, exceedingly treacherous. The history of religion shows 
this. In such circumstances it is not the senses which give infor- 
mation to the mind, but the mind which dictates to the senses 
what they shall see, feel, etc. The more ignorant and uncritical 
the age, the more abundant are its "miracles;" and the same 
mav be said of the mind. However well informed and critical on 
other points, if inexperienced in dealing with the " supernatural," 
it is utterly untrustworthy ; and it often happens that the most 
intellectual and sceptical are most easily deceived or self-deceived. 

This consideration must be added to the universally admitted 
mass of imposture and gross delusion. The Honesty of no man 
is necessarily impugned by doubting that he has seen or heard 
what he is firmly convinced he has. Let him read the scientific 
works named below. There is an admitted body of facts which 
have not yet been reduced to the categories either of imposture 
or of illusion. Their causes are not known; and the wise man 
is slow to pronounce judgment upon them. But the hypothesis 
of "spiritual" influence has not been established; and by the 
laws of evidence no such hypothesis is admissible till all natural 
causes, such as strange powers of the human mind, have been 
definitely set aside. Such facts belong to the realm of mystery. 

As to the direct value of Spiritualism, the most ardent believer 
must admit that it is rather hoped for from future developments 
than realized from anything yet attained. It has added nothing 
reliable as to the future world, and nothing valuable as to the 
practical affairs of the present world. Whatever the " spirits " 
know of either, they have told nothing yet which the unaided 
human intellect or imagination could not hive attained. On the 
contrary, Spiritualism has often done great harm. It would be 
unfair to quote the immoralities which have been stimulated by im- 
postors or even by ignorant and coarse believers. But it is not 
uncommon to see that Spiritualism so inflames the imagination 
that it dulls interest in the affairs of this world, and leads to a 
restless and useless idleness, for which nothing but a feverish 
curiosity as to the uncanny phenomena of the " seance " seems to 
have any attraction. And where Spiritualism is the sole religion, 
it is generally a low one, tending to the " animism " of the savage 
state, lacking in height, breadth, or grandeur of any kind. Spirits 
but a little above the human condition cannot be so exclusively 
dealt with to any great benefit of the soul. 

Yet on the other hand it may be said that Spiritualism, where 
it exists as a part of a wider and higher religion, has often brought 



186 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

inexpressible comfort to its believers. It has assured them of the 
continued existence of their dead, and has seemed to prolong 
pure and elevating intercourse with them. In an age when the 
historic proofs of immortality have become to many incredible, 
this has taken their place. Moreover, it has allied itself with 
more rational phases of theology in profoundly changing the 
popular ideas of the future life. That the dead are " fixed in an 
eternal state" or "done with all below," that the good cannot be 
better themselves or exercise that pity and love which were their 
marks here in helping the sinful and miserable hereafter, that the 
evil are tormented with a useless eternal punishment, — are be- 
liefs destined to pass away ; and in this blessed change Spiritualism 
has played an important part. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is a Spiritualist ? How old is the belief in spirits ? Where and 
how did it revive in our day ? How has it continued ? Who have been 
distinguished adherents of it ? What sort of a following has it? Have 
the} r a formal creed ? Why ? Are they all sincere ? What do they hold 
as to the condition of spirits after death ? How do they differ here from the 
popular theolog} 7 ? Are the spirits fixed or changeable ? What is their 
relation to men ? What is " sensitiveness " ? a " medium " ? What affects 
the character of communications ? Are they all reliable ? What progress 
has been made in them ? What varieties have you ever heard of V What 
is the hope of Spiritualism ? What is its attitude toward religion ? How 
does it interpret Christian history? 

What is the main difficulty with Spiritualism ? What has experience 
shown as to the testimony of the senses ? What kind of an age or mind 
sees most "miracles 1 ' ? What of the educated mind? Does this impugn 
the honesty of testimony ? Are all such facts known to be delusions ? 
What has Spiritualism done for man directly ? What has been its effect 
often upon the ignorant ? As a man's only religion, what is its grade ? What 
good has it done ? 

REFERENCES. 

The history is minutely given in Emma Hardinge's Modern American 
Sjriritualism. The higher doctrine is set forth in Spirit Teachings, by 
M. A. Oxon. The testimony of scientists may be found in A. R. Wallace's 
On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism and Crookes' Researches in the Phe- 
nomena of Spiritualism. Robert Dale Owen in the Introduction to The 
Debatable Land between this World and the Next has an interesting appeal 
to the Protestant clergy, and in this book and Footfalls on the Boundary of 
Another World masses many strange testimonies. Other noted books are 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 187 

D. D. Home's Incidents in my Life ; Hudson Tuttle's Studies in Psychical 
Science; and Light on the Hidden Way, with Introduction by James 
Freeman Clarke. 

Against Spiritualism, see W. A. Hammond's Spiritualism and Nervous 
Derangement ; Edward H. Clarke's Visions; W. B. Carpenter's Mental 
Physiology ; Lecky's History of Rationalism in Europe, chap. i. ; and C. W. 
Upham's Salem Witchcraft. Interesting are Howells's novel, The Undis- 
covered Country ; Besant's Flerr Paulus ; Quincy's Peckster Professor 
and Browning's poem, Sludge, the Medium. 



3. THE MORMONS. 

The name adopted by the Mormons themselves is " The Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." The name " Mormon " was 
transferred in popular speech from the ancient author or compiler 
of the sacred books. The claim is that in 600 b. c. a colony from 
Jerusalem landed on the coast of Chili. A division as to the 
leadership caused the rebellious elder brothers and their adherents 
to have dark skins and to be an idle and worthless race. Hence 
the North American Indians. Between them and the descend- 
ants of the divinely appointed younger son raged perpetual war, 
in which at last the former were victorious in 384 a. d. in New 
York State. Mormon, one of the survivors, collected the records 
in sixteen volumes and buried them. They were found by one 
Joseph Smith in 1823 under angelic guidance, and became the 
foundation of the new religion. It is now known that they 
were written by a half-crazy preacher, in 1812, as an historical 
romance. 

The new sect was organized in 1830 at Fayette, New York, but 
soon transferred to Ohio. Here Brigham Y^oung, a man of power 
and genius, became their elder in 1832. Driven away by their 
scandalized neighbors, who had to call in the aid of the State, they 
founded the city of Nauvoo, in Illinois. Here in 1843 a revelation 
enjoined the practice of polygamy, and a most toilsome and peril- 
ous emigration to Utah followed, where Salt Lake City was 
founded in 1847, and a State soon after named " Deseret." Con- 
flict arose at once between the Mormons and the United States 



188 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

authorities, which has continued, often with bloodshed, to the 
present time. It is now hoped that by the increase in the 4 ' Gen- 
tile" population and the active efforts of the Christian missionaries 
the sect may be shorn of its political power, if not driven out of 
the country, and perhaps gradually obliterated. They are, how- 
ever, still numerous and powerful, numbering in Utah 110,000, 
and in Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and 
England to 140,000 more. They threaten to control Nevada. 
They are very active in missionary work, especially among the 
poorer classes of England and Scandinavia. A secession took 
place, in 1851, of the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-Day Saints," in the old temple in Ohio. They repudiated 
Young, vested the presidency in Joseph Smith's descendants, and 
threw off polygamy and some minor tenets. They also have been 
active missionaries. 

The belief of the Mormons is a singular product of modern 
superstition and fanaticism, working on certain texts of the Scrip- 
tures. They hold to the Bible as authority, but believe in a con- 
tinual process of revelation through the prophet, who is the head 
of the Church. Additional revelations are embodied in the " Book 
of Mormon " and the " Book of Doctrine." The Mormans are in a 
sense poly l heists, believing in a system of gods, all of whom were 
at one time men. Their belief about them is in confusion, and no 
satisfactory statement can be made from conflicting accounts and 
sermons. The most characteristic features are the doctrines that 
all men may rise to be gods, but will retain their human forms and 
functions, and that the polygamous relation is carried throughout 
the divine hierarchy. From the gods and their numerous wives 
are born innumerable spirits who take possession of human bodies 
at the birth of the latter and begin thus their ascent to divinity. 
The father of these children becomes ihe head of this family of 
spirits hereafter, and his power will depend upon their number. 
Hence polygamy, though not an original, becomes a natural part 
of the system. The welfare of woman hereafter also depends 
upon her union with some one of the " saints." 

There is also a sort of Trinity, — God and Christ being clothed 
with human bodies, but the Holy Spirit being omnipresent, though 



A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 189 

a material substance. Men are saved through the atonement made 
by Christ, on condition of their faith in the Church, repentance, 
baptism, and having the hands of the apostles laid on them to give 
the Holy Spirit. Baptism is by immersion, but only after the 
e'ghth year of age. Water is used at the communion in place of 
wine. In the future state, not only the body, but the habits, occu- 
pations, and necessities of the human state will be continued. 
Unbelievers will be burned with fire ; but departed saints have 
preached the true faith in Hades, and any believer here may be 
baptized for any of his dead family or friends. The gifts of Apos- 
tolic days are continued, — as prophecy, miracles, tongues, etc. 
Christ is to return in person, gather Israel, including the lost Ten 
Tribes, to a Zion on this continent, reign for a thousand years, 
and then hold final judgment. The Mormons are strenuous for 
total abstinence from fermented liquors and tobacco; restore the 
Hebrew custom of paying tithes or tenths of all produce and 
profit to the priesthood ; and believe in dancing, as of old, as a 
religious rite. 

Their organization is firm and complete. At its head are 
three presidents, of whom one is supreme, and the others his 
counsellors ; a patriarch who gives blessings ; the twelve apostles, 
under whom the seventies act as missionaries and preachers; 
high-priests, bishops or secular overseers, etc. The subjection 
of the people to these officers is complete, and they evidently 
believe, as they are taught, that this government is divinely 
established, and that all other governments are illegal and re- 
bellious. Their self-sacrifice and devotion to their religion have 
often been pathetic. 

QUESTIONS. 

Whence came the name Mormon ? What is the legal name ? What is 
the story of Mormon ? What was the real origin of the sacred records ? 
When and where was the sect organized ? Who has been their greatest 
leader ? What has been the bearing of the world toward them ? Where do 
they now live V What has been the relation between them and the United 
States government V Has that government the right to prohibit a religious 
practice ? Why has it the right to interfere with the Mormons V How 
numerous are they ? Where do they abound ? Where do they get their 



190 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 

recruits ? What other body of Mormons is there, and how do they differ 
from the main sect ? 

What are their standards of doctrine ? Did any prominent charac- 
ters of the Bible practice polygamy (Gen xvi. 3; xxv. 1; xxviii. 9; 
xxix, 27, 28; 1 Chron. xi. 3) ? Why, then, should it be condemned 
in the Mormons ? Was it an original doctrine among them V What 
advantage has polygamy to men according to Mormon ism ? To women ? 
What do they believe concerning God ? What does Gen. i. 27 mean ? 
Were not many of the classic gods once men V What is the Mor- 
mon Trinity ? How are men saved ? How do Mormons baptize ? What 
do they believe concerning the future state V W r here did they get their idea 
of baptizing for the dead (1 Cor. xv. 29) ? Are they Adventists V What 
other peculiarities can you recall ? What is their organization ? What is 
the spirit of the laity toward the Church ? Do you see anything to approve 
in the Mormon system r What truth is there in their idea of a continued 
revelation ? In men growing to be gods V How far is God human V How 
far is the custom of taking isolated texts from the Bible as a basis of doc- 
trine to blame for their vagaries V Or taking texts literally ? Why is not 
the Mormon justified in taking Luke xviii. 29 so ? Do you think Mormon- 
ism likely to increase ? Why ? 

REFERENCES. 

A bibliography may be found in the History of Utah, by H. H. Ban- 
croft; Booh of Mormon, Orson Pratt's edition, 1881; Book of Doctrine and 
Covenant, Orson Pratt's edition, 1880. A long and impartial account 
in McClintock ; T. B. H. Stenhouse (once a Mormon), Rocly Mountain 
Saints; New America, by W. Hep worth Dixon. 



INDEX. 



Abram, 1, 2. 

Abvssiniau Church, 64, 65, 

Adam's Sin, 29, 31, 55, 132. _ (See 
Human Nature, Total Depravity.) 

Adler, Felix, 179, 180. 

Adventists : classified, 11 ; excite- 
ment, 138 ; peculiar belief, 154 ; 
evangelicism, 154, 155; pastors and 
sectarian divisions, 155; Scriptural 
support, 156, 157; questions and 
books, 157. 

Agape, 49. (See Love-feasts.) 

Albrights, 130. 

Alexandrian Council, 26. 

Altar: ornamented, 56; rejected, 97. 
(See Worship.) 

America: discovered, 70 ; Lutheranism, 
78 ; religion, 129. (See United 
States.) 

American Revolution: rebellious Hes- 
sians, 78; affected by Congregation- 
alism, 116. 

American Unitarian Association: or- 
ganized, 167; work, 169. 174, 175. 

Anabaptists, 119. (See Baptists.) 

Andover Seminary: doctrinal liberal- 
ity, 40, 117; established, 112. 

Anglican Church: view of atonement, 
35; leaders, 43; part of Catholic, 95; 
struggle with Covenanters, 101; first 
step, 109; opposed by Puritans, 
111; revival party, 128, 129; rit- 
ualism. 128; Universalist element, 
159: Unitarian, 165. (See England, 
Episcopal.) 

Antiburghers, 101. 



Anti-effort Baptists, 5, 122. 

Antinomianism, 37. 

Anti-sectarian Sects: condition and 
history, 137-157; questions, 139. 

Antislavery, 162. (See Slavery.) 

Anti-Trinitarians, 163. (See Trinity, 
Unitarianism.) 

Antwerp Synod, 83. (See Holland.) 

Apocalypse, 42. 

Apocrypha, 73. 

Apollinaris, 26. 

Apostles, relation to the Church, 45. 

Apostles' Creed : cited, 14 ; not Trini- 
tarian, 22, 23; teaching bodily res- 
urrection, 43; used by Lutherans, 
79; by Episcopalians, 93, 96, 97; by 
Congregationalists, 115. 

Apostolic Succession, 63, 73, 74. (See 
Bishops, Church, Episcopal.) 

Archbishops, 91, 92. (See Bishops.) 

Arianism : modern, 27, 137 ; name, 
163, 164; in New England, 166. 

Arius, 26. 

Armenian Church, 68. 

Arminianism : view of atonement, 34, 
35 ; conversion, 37, 41, 42 ; contro- 
versy, 83; in English Church, 90; 
in New England, 112; among Bap- 
tists, 122 ; espoused by Methodists, 
131, 132. (See Free.) 

Arminius, 31, 32. 

Arnold, Thomas, 86. 

Asbury, Francis, 129. 

Assurance in Religion, 132. 

Athanasian Creed: cited, 16; origin, 
22, 23; Lutheran use, 79; discarded 
by American Episcopalians, 88. 

Athanasius, 26. 



192 



INDEX. 



A-tonement : common views stated, 33- 
37; objections, 34, 35; Lutheran 
opinions, 80; particular efficacy, 
105 ; views of Methodists, 132, 134; 
of Christian Baptists, 138; of Uni- 
versalists, 160; of Unitarians, 173, 
174; of Moravians, 189. (See Jesus.) 

Augsburg Confession, 77-79. 

Augustine: on human depravity, 31, 
32; on salvation, 158. 

Austin, missionary to England, 85. 

Australian Liberals, 175. 

Austria: religion, 77; Unitarianism, 
176. 

Authority in Religion : general reli- 
ance on, 17 ; rational and ecclesias- 
tical limits, 17, 18; Scriptural, 19, 
20; questions and books, 21. (See 
Bible, Church.) 



B. 



Ballou, Hosea, 159, 163. 

Baltimore, settled by Catholics, 53. 

Baptism: a condition of salvation, 37, 
58; efficacy, 47, 74, 89; origin, 48; 
change of form, 48, 49; books on, 
51; Catholic rite, 55; Oriental cus- 
toms, 67; supernatural element, 80; 
among Reformed Episcopalians. 96- 
98; Presbyterians, 103, 104; Metho- 
dists, 132; Christian Baptists, 138; 
Campbellites, 138, 139; Mormons, 
189. (See Immersion, Infant, Re- 
generation, Sacraments.) 

Baptists: literary help, iv; classified, 
11 ; creeds, 13 ; Calvinistic, 32, 71, 
121, 122 ; opinions about atonement, 
35; churches, 46, 47, 130 ; rites, 48; 
communion, 50; numbers, 75; rise 
in England, 86. 119, 120 ; con- 
gregational polity, 109, 121, 123; 
name, 119; history, 119-121; an- 
tiquity of opinions, 119 ; in Amer- 
ica, 120; middle classes, 120, 121; 
government, 121; doctrines and 
rites, 121,122, sects, 122, 137; statis- 



tics, 122, 123; maintenance of re- 
ligious freedom, 123; ceremonial 
narrowness, 123, 124 ; questions, 
124; books, 125. 

Barrowism, 110, 111. 

Belgic Confession, 83. 

Bellows, Henry W., 168. 

Bennett, Justice, 140. 

Bible : infallible authority, 17-20, 54, 
55,74; books anonymous, 20; read- 
ing disapproved, 51, 73; Catholic 
view, 54, 58, 59; divinely inspired, 
66; Eastern language, 68 ; versions, 
only standard, 73 ; generally trusted, 
74; opinions of Liberals, 75; Ger- 
man criticism, 77; among Episco- 
palians, 90, 97; Presbyterians, 103, 
107; Congregationalists, 114, 117; 
Baptists, 121; Methodists, 132,134; 
basis of churches, 137; among Chris- 
tian Baptists, 139 ; Quakers, 142, 
143; Swedenborgians, 148-150, 153; 
Society for Study, 156; among Uni- 
versalists, 159-161 ; theological texts, 
168; among Unitarians, 171, 172; 
Spiritualists, 184; Mormons, 188. 
(See Infallibility). 

Bidle, John, 165. 

Bishops: Roman Catholic, 58,59; Old 
Catholic, 62, 63; Greek, 67; Lu- 
theran, 80; American Episcopal, 
87-89, 92; English, 89-92; out- 
spoken, 93; Reformed Episcopal, 
97, 98; rejected by Congregational- 
ists, 109; Moravian, 127; Metho- 
dist, 129-133; opposed, 137. (See 
Arckbish ops, Clergy . ) 

Boniface VIIL, 53. ' 

Book of Common Prayer: early revi- 
sion, 86; proposed American change, 
88; relied upon, 90; official use, 91 ; 
errors, dignity, and beauty, 93, 94; 
in Reformed Episcopal Church, 96- 
98; in Scotland. 101, 102; phrases 
changed, 166. (See Liturgies.) 

Booth, General, 135, 136. 

Brahmin ism, 11. 

Brewster, Elder, 111. 



INDEX. 



193 



Broad Church: scholarship, 86, 90, 91; 

liberality, 89. 
Brown ists, 119. 
Brown, Robert, 110. 
Buddhists, 11. 
Burghers, 101. 
Burial, Greek rite, 144. (See Death.) 



Calvinism: dying, 32; atonement 
theories, 34-36 ; doctrine of election, 
41, 42 ; sacraments, 47-50, 71; clergy, 
47; baptism, 48; Lutheran varia- 
tions, 79, 80; Reformed Church, 82- 
84; in English Church, 90; Five 
Points, 104, 105; among Congrega- 
tionalists, 114; Baptists, 121: sway 
broken, 126; antagonized by Meth- 
odism, 131-134; among Universal- 
ists, 159-161; diluted, 166. (See 
Arminianism.) 

Calvinists: European leaders, 71: op- 
posed by Luther, 77; in Hungary, 
78. 

Calvin, John : views of Scripture, 18, 
101; adherence to Augustine, 31; 
theories of infantile guilt, 32 ; books, 
33 ; opinion of the eucharist, 50, 79 , 
liturgy, 84; Institutes, 100; church- 
government, 102, 103; Sabbatarian- 
ism, 104; on predestination, 107; a 
persecutor, 164. 

Cambridge Synod, 111, 114. 

Campbellites, 138. 

Camp-meetings, 129. 

Candles, in worship, 56. 

Cardinals, 58. 

Carey, William, 123. 

Carver, John, 111. 

Cathedrals: English, 91; American, 
92. 

Catholic Apostolic Church, 156. 

Catholic Church, breadth and name, 
71. (See Episcopal, Old, Roman.) 

Celibacy of Clergy, 58. 

Chalcedon Council, 26, 65. 



Chalmers, Thomas, 101. 

Channing, William Ellery: on Jesus, 
19; on the Trinity, 27; on the 
Church, 46; on Calvinism, 117, 167; 
on human nature, 133; works, 178. 

Character, all-important, 170-172. 

Charles I., 100. 

Charles II , 101, 110, 111, 141. 

Charles V., 69, 83. 

Chauncy, Charles, 158, 165. 

Christendom, a race divison, 71. (See 
Teutonic.) 

Christening, 49. (See Baptism, 
Sacraments.) 

Christian Baptists: doctrines, 122; 
protest, 139. 

Christian Connection, 137. 

Christian Denomination : classified, 
11; creedless, 13; denial of Trinity, 
22; names and unsectarianism, 137; 
history, growth, and belief, 137, 
138; statistics, 138; books, 138, 139; 
questions, 140. 

Christian Doctrines: books on, 13; 
essays on, 13-51. (See separate 
headings, such as Total Depravity, 
Trinity.) 

Christianity: Jewish and Gentile, 3; 
early converts, 4; indebtedness to 
Hebrews, 6; books on, 9; name, 9, 
11; Mosaic tendencies, 10; origin, 
history, and divisions. 10, 11; four 
ecclesiastical systems, statistics, 
11; questions, 12; creeds, 13-16; 
sources of authority, 17-21; separa- 
tion from Judaism, 25, 26; divinely 
revealed, 66 ; spirituality, 72; return 
to primitive, 137. 

Christian Mission, 135. (See Salvatu * 
Army.) 

Christians: earliest, 10; sects and 
numbers, 11; right to the title, 11, 
12; in presence of death, 39, 40; the 
name, 77. 

Christian Unionists: no creed, 13; 
sect and history, 139. 

Church: authoritative establishment, 
17, 18; subordination to Scripture, 



13 



194 



INDEX. 



18 ; early formation, 45 ; visible in- 
stitution, 45, 46, 73 ; invisibility, 46, 
73 ; varj'ing forms, 46 ; membership, 
46-48; pastors, 47 (see Clergy); 
ceremonies, 47-50 (see Sacraments)] 
questions, 50, 51; books, 51, 95; 
superior to Scripture, 66; Eastern 
idea, 67; property, 70; to be 
obej^ed, 72; liberal view of, 75, 172; 
authority in England, 90; not one 
only, 97; relations to state, 103; 
Presbyterian theory, 103; Congre- 
gational, 110 ; Methodist, 130, 131; 
Christian Baptist, 139; Quaker, 142, 
143, 145. 

Churches: in New Testament, 112, 
113; distinct from societies, 113; 
Universalist polity, 160. (See 
Congregationalism.) 

Church-membership: terms, 46, 48; 
among Quakers, 143. (See Baptism, 
Confirmation, Sacraments.) 

Church of England, history, 85, 86. 
(See Anglican, England, Episcopal.) 

Church Party, 71, 72. 

Circumcision, 5. 

Classes, Methodist, 130. 

Clergy: rank, 47; papal, 58; Eastern, 
67; authority, 73; Anglican, 91; 
American Episcopal, 92, 93; Pres- 
byterian, 99, 100; Congregational, 
113; Moravian, 126; Methodist, 130- 
133; Campbellite, 138; Christian 
Unionist, 139; Quaker, 142, 143; 
Swedenborgian, 152; Universalist. 
161 ; Moravian, 189 ; Unitarian, 175. 
(See Bishops, Cardinals, Education, 
Popes, Priesthood, Sacraments.) 

Close Communion, 121, 122. 

Coke, Thomas, 129. 

Colet, John, 86. 

Communion: Protestant view, 47-50; 
name, 49; Methodist, 132; Christian 
Baptist, 138. (See Consubstantia- 
Hon, Eucharist, Sacraments, Tran- 
substantiation.) 

Concord : Form of, 77 ; Book of, 79. 

Conferences: Orthodox, 113, 114; 



Methodist, 130; Christian Baptist, 
138; Unitarian, 168, 169, 175. 

Confessional : Roman Catholic, 56, 57 ; 
Greek, 67. 

Confirmation : rite, 49, 55, 56; replaced, 
74. (See Church-membership.) 

Confucians, 11. 

Congregationalism: rise in England, 
36, 86, 101; in Reformed Episcopal 
Church, 98; anti-Presbyterian, 100, 
106, 107, 109; history, 109-115; 
founders, 110; established church of 
New England, 111, il2; the great 
defection, 112; among Baptists, 121, 
123, 138, 139; relation to Methodism, 
130; among Universalists, 160; Uni- 
tarians, 163-170; church-govern- 
ment, 112, 113 ; ancient town system, 
113; catechisms, 114; Statement of 
Doctrine, 114, 115; relation to lib- 
eralism, 116, 117; books on, 118. 
(See Church.) 

Congregationalists: literary aid; iv; 
classification, 11; creed, 13; Calvin- 
istic, 32, 71; views of atonement, 35; 
future probation, 40; churches, 46, 
47; clergy, 47, 113; numbers, 75; 
name, 109 ; independent principle, 
109, 110, 113; early English socie- 
ties, 110,111; Holland exiles, 111; 
compromises, 111, 112 ; Western 
missionary work, 112; officers and 
membership, 113; conferences, 113, 
114; synods, 114; doctrines, 114, 
115; statistics, 115, 116; questions, 
117, 118; education, 120, 121. (See 
Unitarians.) 

Constantine: authority, 26 ; Donation, 
53. 

Constantinople Council, 26, 65. 

Consubstantiation : theory, 50, 79; 
denied, 103, 104. (See Eucharist, 
Sacraments, Transubstantiation.) 

Conversion: process, 36, 37; Meth- 
odist view, 132. (See Human 
Nature.) 

Conviction of Sin, 132. 

Coptic Church, 65. 



INDEX. 



195 



Correspondence of Scripture, 149, 150, 
153. 

Councils of the Church: great, 52, 
63-65; failure, 53; Eastern, 67,68. 
(See special names, such as Trent.) 

Covenanters: theology, 71; estab- 
lished, 100, 101. 

Covenants of Churches, 13, 169. 

Creeds: the word, 13; prevalence, 13, 
14; earliest, 14; three general, 
14-16; Baptist, 121; Moravian, 127; 
Christian Baptist, 138; Universalist, 
160; below character, 170; ethical, 
179. (See special names, such as 
Athanasian, Nicene.) 

Cromwell, Oliver, 101, 110. 

Crookes, Pivfessor, 183, 186. 

Crucifix, 67. 

Crusades, 70. 

Cumberland Presbyterians, 102, 106. 

Cummins, Bishop David, 96, 98, 99. 



D. 

Darwinism, 11, 12. 

Deacons, 67. (See Cleigy.) 

Death : how met, 39, 40; prayers, 67. 

Decalogue, 2. 

Dedham Case, 167. 

Denmark: religion, 78 ; churches, 80. 

Dioceses, 131. (See Bishops.) 

Disciples of Christ: creedless, 13; 

numbers, 75 ; sectarian names and 

facts, 138. 
Dissenters in England, 92. 
Divorce, 58. (See Marriage.) 
Dollinger, Dr., 53. 62. 
Dort Synod, 83, 84. 
Douay Bible, 73. 
Dress, among Quakers, 144. (See 

Vestments.) 
Duff, Adam, 164. 
Dyer, Mary, 141. 

E. 

Eastern Church: first great schism, 
11; sects, 26; view of sin, 31; name, 



philosophy, and extent, 64; history, 
64, 65; patriarchs, 64, 68; doctrinal 
secession from Latin Church, ene- 
mies and defeats, 65; doctrines, 
65-68 ; councils, 64-66 ; estimate of 
tradition, Scripture, deity, and hu- 
man nature, 66; means of salvation, 
value of rites, 66, 67; ecclesiastical 
authority and pastors, 67; ceremo- 
nies, 67, 68 ; liturgies, government, 
and statistics, 68 ; questions, 68, 69 ; 
books, 69. (See Greek) 

Ebionites, 25. 

Education: among Baptists, 120, 121; 
Congregationalists, 116; Quakers, 
142, 145; Adventists, 155. (See 
Harvard.) 

Edwards, Jonathan, 112, 166. 

Edward VI., 86. 

Elders: Presbyterian, 106; Methodist, 
130-132 (See Clergy.) 

Election : doctrine affirmed, 35 ; de~ 
nied, 80; unconditional, 104, 105; 
of infants, 105. (See Free Will, 
Predestination.) 

Elizabeth, Queen, 159. 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo: poem, 17; 
influence, 19, 168. 

Emotional Religion, 126,133, 134, 152. 

England: Calvinism, 71; indepen- 
dence of Rome, 86; liberal scholar- 
ship, 86 ; 87; prelates and lords, 91; 
ecclesiastical property, 91, 92; reli- 
gious changes, 100, 101; emigration 
to America, 102; the Independents, 
107; Baptists, 123; Moravians, 
126; Quakers, 140, 141; Sweden- 
borginns, 148, 152; Unitarians, 163- 
166, 175, 176; Mormons, 188. (See 
Anglican.) 

Eparchies, 68. 

Ephesian Council, 26, 65. 

Episcopal Church: literary aid, iv; 
classification, 11; creeds, 15, 16; 
Pelagianism. 32; free grace, 36; 
conversion, 37, 38; hell, 43; bishops, 
46; sacraments, 47-50; baptism, 
48, 49; eucharist, 49, 50, 74; Calvi- 



196 



INDEX. 



nism, 71; denial of Protestantism, 
71; apostolic succession, 74; nurn 
bers, 75; names and foundation, 85 ; 
histoiy, 85-88; relation to Rome, 
85, 86, 89, 95; prayer-book, 86; 
laxity and reaction, 86, 87; in 
United States, 87, 88; doctrines, 
88-91; forms of worship, 88, 93; 
three parties, 88-90; church unity, 
89; apostolic succession, 89, 90; 
evangelicism, 90; High, Low, and 
Broad divisions, 90; organization, 
91, 92; bishops, 91; statistics, 92; 
in United States, 92, 93; claims, 
93, 94; questions, 94; books on, 95, 
96 ; Reformed, 96-99 ; contest with 
Presbyterianism, 103, 107 ; Sabba- 
tarianism, 104; distinction from 
Congregationalism, 109, 112, 113; 
Toryism, 116; persecution of Bap- 
tists, 120. (See Anglican and 
Reformed.) 
Erasmus, 86. 

Erskine, Ebenezer, 101, 130. 
Eternal Hope, 159. (See Universalism.) 
Eternal Punishment : believed, 40, 41 ; 
English views, 90; denials, 91; 
belief of Presbyterians, 105 ; of 
Methodists, 132, 134; rejected by 
Adventists, 155; by Universalists, 
158,159; by Unitarians, 174. (See 
Future Life.) 
Ethical Culture: literarj" aid, iv; his- 
tory of the movement, 179; methods, 
179, 180 ; literature and moral basis, 
180; place and questions, 181. 
Etiquette, 145. 

Eucharist: a help to salvation. 37, 
47-50; name, 49; books on, 51; a 
sacrificial offering, 55, 67, 74; dif- 
fering opinions among the Reform- 
ers, 71; Luther's view, 71, 79, 80; 
later Protestant opinions, 88; Eng- 
lish view, 89, 90 ; in Reformed 
Church, 97; among Presbj'terians, 
103, 104 (See Communion, LoroVs 
Supper, Sacraments.) 
Eutyches, 26. 



Evangelical Alliance, 71. 

Evangelical Association, 130. 

Evangelical Christianity: name, iv, 
71 ; theory of conversion, 36 ; dread 
of death, 40 , modified views of hell 
43; adherence to Scriptures, 72 
agreement among Methodists, 132 
Christian Baptists 138, 139; Qua- 
kers, 142, 143; Adventists, 154-156. 

Experimental Religion, 132-134. 

Extreme Unction : practised, 56 ; set 
aside, 67, 74. 



F. 



Faith: a supreme spiritual act, 72; 

opinions of Reformed Episcopal 

Church, 97: limited to the elect, 

105; among Methodists, 132. 
Fall of Man, 29-31, 66, 74. (See Hu- 
man Nature, Total Depravity.) 
Farrar, Archdeacon, 42, 90, 159. 
Fashions, 145, 146. (See Dress and 

Vestments.) 
Fenwicke, John, 141. 
First Churches in New England, 112. 

(See Congregationalism.) 
Fisher, Mary, 140. 
Flowers, used in worship, 56. 
Forgiveness, priestly. 56, 57. (See 

Atonement.) 
Fox Children, 182. 
Fox, George: life, 140, 141, 146; 

books, 147. 
France: Calvinism, 71; liberality, 

164, 177. 
Freedom in Religion : three steps, 109 ; 

defended by Baptists, 122, 123. 
Free Grace, 36, 133, 136, 137. 
Free Methodists, 130. 
Freen, James, 166. 
Free Seats, 93. 
Free (Will) Baptists: name, 120; 

numbers, 122; secessions, 137. 
Free Will: doctrine, 31-33 \ Unitarian 

view, 174. (See Arminianism.) 
Friends: literary aid, iv; silence, 10; 

classified, 11; creedless, 13; views 



INDEX. 



197 



of Trinity, 22; rejection of sacra- 
ments, 48 ; exclusion, 71 ; opposed 
to Calvinism, 71, 141, 142 ; rational- 
ism developed, 72; rise in P2ngland, 
86; names, 140; history, 140-143; 
tolerated, 141; in the American 
colonies 141, 142; inferences from 
doctrine of the inner light, 142, 
143; common ceremonies rejected, 
organization, 143; discipline and 
customs, 144; philanthropy, 144, 
145: statistics, 145; criticism, first 
liberals, questions, 146 ; books, 147 ; 
serene trust, 152. 

Fry, Elizabeth, 142, 144. 

Funerals, 143. (See Burial and 
Death.) 

Furness, W. H., poem, 33. 

Future Life: general belief, 39; hopes 
and fe irs, 39, 40; drama in four 
acts, 40, 41; early Christian belief, 
41 ; two ultimate conditions, 42, 43 ; 
modern protest, 43; questions, 43, 
44; books, 44; general agreement, 
74 ; Swedenborg's view, 151 ; opin- 
ions of Universalists, 158-161; Uni- 
tarians, 174; Mormons, 188, 189. 
(See Eternal.) 



Gay, Ebenezer, 166. 

General Baptists, 120. 

Genesis: not inspired, 20; teachings 
about sin, 29, 30. 

Genevan Church, 103. (See Calvin.) 

Gentiles: religion, 3; intermarriage, 4. j 

German Methodists, 130. 

Germany: emigration, 53; Biblical 
criticism, 77, 81, 86, 87; general 
religion, 78; Lutheranism, 80; emi- 
gration to America, 102; Baptists, 
120, 122; Moravians, 126; Sweden- 
borgians, 148; Unitarians, 176. 
(See Lutheranism.) 

Giles, Chauncey, 152. 

God: general Christian belief, 22; 
divergencies, 22, 23; questions, 23; 



salvation compact, 34; view of 
Swedenborgians, 149; Universa- 
lists, 160; Unitarians, 163-167; re- 
lation of Ethical Movement to deity, 
179. (See Atonement, Holy Spirit, 
Jesus, Trinity.) 

Good Hope, discovery of Cape, 70. 

Gospel Truth, considered a monopolv, 
71. 

Grace, effectual, 105. (See Free.) 

Great Assize, 41. 

Great Awakening, 112, 165, 166. 

Greek Church: classification and num- 
bers, 11; creeds, 14, 15; clergy and 
sacraments, 47; future progress, 
64; language, 64, 68; errors, 71; 
branch of one great church, 89. 
(See Eastern and Russia.) 

Greenwood, John, 110. 

Gregory the Great, 52, 85. 

Guilt, 32. (See Adam, Eternal, Flu- 
man Nature, Total Depravity.) 



Gurneyites, 142. 



H. 



Half-way Covenant, 111, 112, 165, 
166. 

Harvard College, 112, 167, 175. 

Heaven, a condition, 151. (See Eter- 
nal, Future Life.) 

Hebrews, 1. (See Jeivs.) 

Hebrews, Book of, 34, 35. 

Heck, Barbara, 129. 

Hegel, 11, 12. 

Hell, 42, 43. (See Eternal, Future, 
and Jud (/merit.) 

Henry VIII., 86, 92. 

Heredity, 35, 107. (See Election, 
Predestination.) 

Hicks, Elias: career, 142; books, 147. 

Hicksites: tenets, 22; numbers, 145. 

High Church: proper place, 72; in 
England, 86, 88, 90; in America, 
96;^ baptism, 124; Wesley, 128. 
(See Episcopal and Low.) 

Hildebrand, 53. 

Holland: Calvinism, 71, 100; Luth- 



198 



INDEX, 



eranism ; 78 ; tenets, 78 ; connection 
with America, 78, 102; churches, 
83; ecclesiastical history, 84; Con- 
gregationalism, 110. Ill; sects, 119, 
122; liberalism, 161, 165, 176. 

Holy Spirit: deity, 23, 90; convert- 
ing work, 3"; in creeds, 65-67; in 
councils, 67; response to faith, 72, 
connection with Scripture, 73 ; in 
Westminster Confession, 104, 105 ; 
views of Congregationalists, 114, 
115; Methodists, 133, 134; Quakers, 
142, 143, 145; Swedenborgians, 149, 
150. (See God, Jesus, Trinity.) 

Home, David Dunglas, 182. 

Hubmaier, Balthazar, 119. 

Huguenots: Calvinistic, 71, 100; con- 
nection with America, 102. 

Human Nature: innocence and fall, 
29-33, 66; corruption and guilt, 31; 
three views, 31, 32; questions, 32; 
books, 33 ; soundness, 33, 34 ; restor- 
ation, 67 ; Swedenborg's view, 149. 
(See Guilt and Total Depravity.) 

Hungary: religion, 78; Unitarians, 
163. 

Huss, John, 126. 

Hyacinthe, Father, 53, 63. 



I. 



Image- worship, 67, 74. 

Immersion: Greek rite, 67; reasons 
stated, 121-124; among minor 
sects, 138, 139; Mormon practice, 
189. (See Baptism, Sacraments.) 

Immortality, lost, 66. (See Eternal 
and Future.) 

Incense, 56. 

Independents : rise in England, 86, 
101; church-government, 109; per- 
secution and emigration, 110, 111 ; 
in Holland, 119; Baptist relation- 
ship, 120. (See Congregationalism.) 

Indians : Lutheranism, 78 ; origin, 187. 

Indulgences, theory explained, 57. 

Infallibility: not taught in Scriptures, 
20; papal, 53, 54; impossible, 60; 



decreed, 53,62; rejected, 53, 62, 63, 
171. (See Bible and Pope.) 

Infants: perdition, 32, 43, 105; bap- 
tism, 48, 49, 58, 89, 93, 96, 97, 119, 
121, 123, 124. (See Baptism and 
Regeneration.) 

Inner Light, 140, 142. (See Friends 
and Holy Spirit.) 

Inquisition, 58. 

Inspiration, 17-20, 58. (See Bible, 
Holy Spir-it, Infallibility.) 

Ireland: emigration, 53, 102; ecclesi- 
astical history, 85; disestablishment, 
91; Presbyterianism, 138; Unita- 
rianism, 165, 175. 

Irvingites, 156. 

Isidorean Decretals, 52, 53. 

Italy: emigration, 53; liberalism, 164. 



Jacob, Henry, 110. 

Jacobites, 65, 68. 

James, Saint, liturgy, 68. 

Jerusalem : a centre, 64 ; capture, 65 ; 
synod, 66; patriarchate, 68. 

Jesuits, 53. 

Jesus: nationalitv, 3, 5, 24; preach- 
ing and life, 10; church founded, 
17; no writer, 20; rank and office. 
24; deified, 24, 25, 27, 58, 74, 90, 
118, 132, 134; textual discussion, 24, 
25; earthly appearance and gospel 
pictures, 25 ; Greek and Latin ideas, 
26; early doctrinal controversies, 
25-27 ; modern dissent, 26, 27 ; 
questions, 28; books on, 28, 29; 
view of human nature, 30; influence 
in salvation, 33-36; second coming, 
40, 41, 151,154-157; on the judg- 
ment seat, 41, 42; relation to the 
Church, 45, 54, 89; communion, 
49; two natures, 65; in creeds, 66, 
67; opinions of Congregationalists, 
114, 115; of Baptists, 121; devotion 
of believers, 126 ; ancient heretical 
theories, 137, 138; rites, 143; opin- 
ions of Swedenborgians, 149, 151; 



INDEX. 



199 



of Universalists, 158, 159, 161; of 
Unitarians, 164-175. (See God, 
Holy Spirit, Trinity.) 

Jews: suggestions from Dr. Lasker, 
iv; name and origin, 1; history, 
1-4; three periods and formation, 2; 
affirmation, 2, 3 ; exile and changes 
in belief, 2, 3; Scriptures, 3 ; denial 
of Christianity, 3, 5, 6 ; reformation, 
3, 4; creeds, authority, marriage, 4; 
doctrines and Sabbath, 4, 5; cer- 
emonies, 5 ; persecution and theolo- 
gical influence, 6; occupations and 
statistics, 7; questions, 7, 8; books 
on, 8; numbers, 11; Messianic 
opinions, 24; ideas of deity, 24, 25; 
rites discarded, 72 ; ritualistic spirit, 
123; secondary sense of Scripture, 
153; Unitarianism, 164, 172, 173. 

John's Gospel, doubtful authenticity, 
24, 25. 

Jones, Abner, 137. 

Jowett, Professor, 86. 

Judgment Day : general yiew, 39-43 ; 
opinions of Swedenborgians, 151 ; 
Uniyersalists, 158; Unitarians, 174. 
(See Eternal and Future.) 

Justification: theories, 37, 38, 58, 72; 
ancient opinion. 83. (See Faith.) 



K. 

Keble, John, 86. 

King's Chapel, 166. 

Kingsley, Charles, 43, 86, 90, 159. 

Knox, John, 100. 



Latin Church : philosophy, 25 : lan- 
guage, 56. (See Eos'ern, Greek, 
Roman.) 

Leo the Great, 52. 

Letters of Church-fellowship, 113. 
(See Church -membership.) 

Liberal Christians: the epithet, iv; 
views of human nature, 33, 34; of 



predestination, 35 ; of conversion, 
36; of sanctification and justifica- 
tion, 37, 38; not afraid of death, 40 ; 
sacramental opinions, 49, 50; anti- 
Calvinistic, 71; rationalistic, 72; in 
English Church, 89. (See Armini- 
anism, New Church, Unitarianism, 
Universalism.) 

Liberal Protestant Sects, 158-179. 

Lindsey, Theophilus, 27, 165. 

Litany]! 88, 91,93, 94. 

Liturgies: ancient, 68; American, 88; 
dignity, 93; Methodist, 132. (See 
Book.) 

Locke, John, 165. 

Logos, 26, 49. 

Longfellow, Samuel, poetry, 45. 

Lord's Supper : name, 49; terms, 112; 
kiss, 155. (See Communion, Eucha- 
rist, Sacraments.) 

Love-feasts, 49, 132. 

Low Church, 86, 88-90. (See Epis- 
copal and High.) 

Lutheranism: sacraments, 47-50: not 
tolerated, 69; in Holland, 71, 83; 
history, 77-79; creeds, 79; differ- 
ences from Calvinism, 79, 80, 100; 
questions, 82; books on, 82; for- 
mulas of belief, 88; relation to 
Presbyterianism, 103; view of 
Scriptural inspiration, 107. 

Lutherans: classified, 11; baptism. 
48; eucharist, 50, 71,74; divisions, 
71, 78, 79, 122; numbers, 75; name, 
77; location, 78; doctrines and 
rites, 79, 80; organization and pol- 
ity, 80, 81; old guard, statistics, 81 ; 
Sabbath-observance, 104; Moravian 
element, 126. 

Luther, Martin : views of Scripture, 
18; outlawry, 69, 70; advent, 70, 
71; limiting truth, 81; stirring ef- 
forts, 86, 119. 

M. 

Maronites, 65. 

Marriage: sacrament, 47, 56, 58; of 



200 



INDEX. 



Greek priests, 67; restrictions, 74; 
English, 92 ; Quaker strictness, 142, 
143; ceremony, 144. 

Mass, 49, 50, 55. (See Eucharist.) 

Massachusetts : parish taxes remitted, 
111; churches, 113; Congregation - 
alists, 115; Baptists, 120; Univer- 
salists, 161; Unitarians, 165-168. 

Maurice, F. D., 43, 86, 90, 159. 

Mayhew, Jonathan, 158, 166. 

Meadville School, 175. 

Melanchthon, 77, 79. 

Mennonites, 119, 122. 

Messiahship: claim and meaning, 6; 
denied, 24. (See Jesus.) 

Methodism: creed, 13; Pelagianism, 
32; views of atonement, 35; free 
grace, 36; conversion, 37, 38; anti- 
Calvinistic, 71, 133, 134; Moravian 
influence, 126; history, 127-130; re- 
vival influence, 128; expansion, 128, 
129; doctrinal theories and three 
theological characteristics, 131, 132; 
books on, 131, 135; evangelicism, 
132; questions, 134. (See Armin- 
ianism.) 

Methodists: literary aid, iv; classified 
11; church-government, 46; reac 
tion, 86; numbers, 75; in the South 
119, 120; name, 127; in America 
129, 130; divisions, 129, 130, 131 
warmth, 129, 133; organization, 130 
131; literature and standards, 131 
liturgy, 132; statistics, 132, 133; pop 
ular devotion, 133 ; in New England 
166. 

Millennium, 40, 156, 157. (See Ad- 
ventisis and Second.) 

Millerites, 41, 138, 154. 

Milton, John, 165. 

Miracles, 171, 181, 185, 189. 

Missions: Lutheran, 84; Congrega- 
tional, 115, 116; opposition. 122: 
Baptist, 122, 123; leaders, 123; Mo- 
ravian, 126; Methodist, 132, 133; 
Salvation Army, 135, 136; Camp- 
bellite, 138; Quaker, 140. 

Missourians, 78, 155. 



Mohammedans: numbers, 11; suc- 
cess, 65. 

Monophysites, 26, 65, 68. 

Monothelites, 26. 

Moravians: classified, 11; name, 125; 
history and customs, 126; statistics, 
questions, and books, 127; influ- 
ence on Methodism, 128. 

More, Sir Thomas, 86. 

Mormonism: name and foundation, 
187; history, 187, 188; literature, 
188 ; theology, 188, 189 ; ceremonies 
and organization, 189; questions, 
189, 190; books, 190. 

Mosaic Law, 4, 5. 

Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior, 78. 

Murray, John, 158, 159, 163. 

National Conference, 168, 169. 

Negroes, 129, 133. 

Nestorian Church, 65, 68. 

Nestorius, 65, 68. 

New Church. (See New Jerusalem.) 

New Connection, 120. 

New England: Calvinism, 71; Epis- 
copacy, 87; Congregationalism, 106; 
established church, 111; revivals, 
112; creeds and textbooks, 114; 
settlement, 116; Baptists, 125; Uni- 
versalists, 158-161; Unitarians, 165- 
163; Arminianism, 166. (See Mas- 
s^chusetts and United States.) 

New Hampshire Confession, 121, 125. 

New Jerusalem Church : literary aid, 
iv; theory of the judgment, 42, 43; 
exclusion, 71; rationalism 72; 
name, 147; history, 147, 148: foun- 
der, 147-149; doctrines, 148-151; 
the Lord, 149 ; correspondence of 
Scriptures, 149,150; human nature, 
150; continuity of life, 150, 151; 
second coming of Christ, 151; or- 
ganization, 151, 152; pastors, statis- 
tics, and influence, 152; books on, 
152-154; claims denied, 153; ques- 
tions, 153. (See Swedenborg.) 



INDEX. 



201 



Newman, Cardinal : quoted, 18, 95 ; 
submission, 63; leadership, 86. 

New School Presbyterians, 102, 106. 

Newton, Sir Isaac, 165. 

New York: Dutch Church, 83; Uni- 
versalists, 161. 

Nictea, Council of, 26, 64, 164. 

Nicene Creed : cited, 15, 16 ; changed, 
23,65; Lutheran use, 79 ; Anglican, 
90; Reformed Episcopal, 96, 97; 
Congregational. 114. (See Apostles, 
Athanasian, and Creeds.) 

Non-Christian Societies, 179-190. 

Non-conformists, 128, 129. (See Dis- 
senters.) 

Norway: religion, 78; churches, 80. 



o. 



Occhino, Bernardino, 165. 

O'Kelly, James, 137. 

Old Catholics : leaders and move- 
ment, 53; origin and purpose, 62, 
63; stagnation, questions, and 
books, 63. (See Bollinger.) 

Old Connection of Baptists, 120. 

Old Lutherans, 78. 

Old School Presbyterians, 102, 106. 

Ordination : sacramental, 56 ; by peo- 
ple, 74. (See Clergy and Sacra- 
ments.) 

Oriental Missions, 140. 

Orgen, 158. 

Original Sin, 29. (See Adam and 
Hum.an Nature.) 

Orthodox Protestants : photographed, 
iii; literary aid, iv; dread of 
death, 40: views of communion, 50; 
in New England, 109; Universalist 
leaning toward, 162; relation to 
Unitarians, 171-175. 



P. 



Papas, in Greek Church, 67. 
Parker, Theodore, 19, 167, 168. 
Particular Baptists, 120. 



Patriarchs, 64, 67, 68. (See Clergy.) 

Paul: denials, 10; opinions not fully 
accepted, 12; spiritualizing Jesus, 
25 ; views of sin, 30, 31 ; epistles, 
31 ; relation to Christianity, 72. 

Pauline Tendencies, 10, 72, 97, 145. 

Pelagius and his Doctrine, 31, 32. 
(See Human Nature ) 

Penances : Romanist, 56 ; Greek, 67. 
1 Penn, William : position, 141, 146 ; 
books, 147. 

Pepin's Gift, 52, 53. 

Perfection, as a doctrine, 132. 

Permission to Sin, 57. 

Perseverance of the Saints, 35, 105. 

Peter: in Rome, 52; the rock, 54', 
relation to Christianity, 72. 

Petrine Tendencies, 10, 72, 97, 123. 

Philadelphia : a Presbyterian centre, 
102; Confession, 121* 125. 

Pictures in Church, 67. (See Image- 
worship). 

Pietists: sect, 77; missions, 123. 

Pilgrims : Calvinistic, 83; leaders 
from Holland, 111; unlike the 
Puritans, 117. 

Plymouth, settled, 111. 

Poland: Unitarianism, 27, 164; 
churches, 77; Calvinism, 100; 
Catholic reaction, 164. (See Hun- 
gary and Transylvania). 

Polygamy, 187-189. (See Marriage). 

Polytheism, 188. 

Popes: prominent, 52, 53; position, 
58; power, 59; authority rejected, 
62; corruption, 70. (See Clergy, 
Infallibility, and personal names of 
different pontiffs.) 

Prayer: to the saints for friends, 57; 
among Methodists, 132; among Uni- 
tarians, 174. 

Praver-meetings, political example, 
li6. 

Predestination : doctrine, 35, 36 ; Pres- 
byterian views, 107; disregarded in 
New England, 112; and by cer- 
tain Baptists, 122. (See Election, 
Eternal, Human Nature.) 



202 



INDEX. 



Presbyterian Churches, becoming Uni- ! 
tarian, 106, 107, 163, 165. 

Presbyterianism : Calvinistic 71, 102, 
103; rise in England, 86; estab- 
lished in Scotland, 91 ; name, 99, 
100; polity, 100; history, 100-102; 
in United States, 102; Confessions, 
102, 103; doctrines, 102-105; Scrip- 
tural reliance, 103; peculiar tenets 
in Five Points, 104, 105; theories of 
perdition, 105; questions, 107, 108; 
books on, 108, 109; second step 
toward religious liberty, 109; with- 
drawals, 110; among Baptists, 122. 

Presbyterians : classified, 11 ; views of 
atonement, 35; ecclesiastical gov- 
ernment, 46, 47, 103, 106, 109, 130; 
clergy, 47; numbers, 75; kinship 
with Reformed Episcopacy, 98 ; dis- 
cipline, 100, 101; liturgy, 101, 102; 
two schools, 102, 106 ; schisms, 102, 
106, 110, 137; originators of Puritan 
Sabbath, 104; evangelicism, 105; 
statistics, 106 ; Protestant color- 
guard, 107; Plan of Union, 113, 114; 
relation to Christian Baptists, 137; 
second-advent views, 156. 

Pretention, akin to predestination, 35, 
105. 

Priesthood: corrupt, 70; universal, 
73, 97, 98. 

Priestley, Joseph, 165. 

Priest, name omitted, 96. (See 
Clergy.) 

Printing, 70. 

Probation: earthly, 35, 36; future, 
112; Methodist custom, 132. (See 
Eternal and Future.) 

Propaganda at Rome, 58. 

Prophets, 2. 

Protestantism: appearance in Christ- 
endom, 10, 11; appeal to authority, 
17, 18; views of free grace, 36; 
sanctification, 37; hell, 42, 43; race 
division, 63, 71; differences from 
Greek Church, 66, 67; revival of 
Christianity, 72; name, 69, 70; his- 
tory, 70-74; causes of protest, 70, 



71; three main parties, 71, 72; doc- 
trines, 72-74; importance and im- 
partation of faith, 72, 73 ; divergence 
from Romanism, 73; church and 
ministry, 73, 74; two sacraments 
and minor differences, 74; ques- 
tions, 75, 76 ; books on, 76; opposed 
in Scotland, 100; indebtedness to 
Presbyterianism, 107; Calvinistic, 
133. 

Protestant Reformation : adherence to 
Scripture and rejection of ecclesias- 
tical authority, 18-20; unchanged 
views of the Trinity, 26; human na- 
ture, 31, 32; atonement, 34; changed 
views of the Church, 46: clergy, 47; 
sacraments, 47, 48; long preparation, 
70; first aim, 70, 71; literature, 108, 
109; development of Universalism, 
158 ; of Unitarianism, 164. 

Protestant Sects: evangelical, 77-136; 
anti-sectarian, 137-157; liberal, 
158-179. 

Protestants: numbers, 11; creeds, 14; 
denial of sacramental grace, 37; 
dread of death, 39-41; drift toward 
belief in future probation, 40; re- 
tracing steps, 50; friendly prayers, 
57 ; schisms and sects, 71 ; proper 
classification, 71, 72; statistics, 75; 
use of Catholic creeds, 88; Episco- 
pal differences, 90. 

Prussian Church, 77. 

Purgatory, 40, 57, 67, 74. 

Puritans: adherence to Bible, 18; 
atonement, 35; Calvinistic, 71; rise, 
86; in New England, 87; rigidity, 
93; "belated," 97; Sabbath observ- 
ance, 104; origin, 107; name, 109, 
110; emigration, 111; education, 
116; not identical with Pilgrims, 
117. 

Pusey, Edward Bouverie, 86. 



Q- 



Quakers. (See Friends) 



INDEX. 



203 



R. 



Racovians, 163. 

Radbert, Paschasius, 49, 50. 

Rationalism, 81. 

Rationalists, 170, 171 

Rational Party, 72, 77. (See Liberal 
and Unitarian.) 

Reformed Dutch Church: classifica- 
tion, 11; numbers, 75, 106; title, 
history, controversies, American 
establishment and language, 83; 
doctrines, 83, 81; organization, sta- 
tistics, questions, books, 84. 

Reformed Episcopal Church: name 
and formation, 96; history, 96, 97; 
principles, 97; belated Puritan ten- 
dencies, 97, 98; organization, sta- 
tistics, and protest, 98; questions, 
98, 99; books, 99. 

Regeneration: a divine work, 35-39, 
66, baptismal, 80, 89, 93, 96, 97; 
Methodist view. 132. (See Con- 
version, Human Nature.) 

Reinkens, Bishop, 53, 62. 

Relics, 57. 74. 

Religious Freedom: three steps, 109; 
Baptist maintenance, 122, 123. 

Relly, James, 158. 

Remission of Sin, 57. 

Renaissance, 70. 

Reprobation, 105. (See Predestina- 
tion and Preterition.) 

Restorationists, 158, 161. (See Uni- 
versalism.) 

Resurrection of Body, 43, 90. 

Revelation, Book of, lurid pictures, 42. 

Revelation, not rare, 171. (See Bible, 
Holy Spirit.) 

Revivals: Methodist. 128, 129: Sal- 
vation Army. 135. 

Robertson. F. W., 43. 159. 

Robinson. John, 110. 

Roman Catholic Church : steadfast 
faith, iii ; literary aid, iv; ritual 
10. 55-57, 72; classification. 11; 
statistics. 11. 59; creeds, 14-16; 
final authority, 17, 18; Pelagian- 



ism, 32; theory of atonement, 34; 
predestination, 35; free grace and 
conversion, 36; justification and 
sanctification, 37; inspiring dread 
of death. 39-41; pictures of hell; 
42, 43; ecclesiastical foundation, 
45; clergy, 47, sacraments, 47-50, 
55, 56; Scripture-reading discour- 
aged, 54, 73; name, 52, 64; his- 
toric formation, 52, 53; chief events 
and temporal power, 53 ; in America, 
53. 54; doctrines, 54-59; one in- 
fallible body, 54, 60, 73; authori- 
tative decisions, 54, 55 ; centre of 
worship, 55; admission, 55; lan- 
guage, vestments, candles, and in- 
cense, 56; remission of sin, 56, 57; 
treasury of merits, aids to devotion, 
57; future state, 57, 67; divorce, 
58; polity and government, 58, 59; 
doctrinal liberality, 59, 60; funda- 
mental claim. 60 ; questions, 60. 61; 
books, 61, 62; rebellious German 
scholars, 62; firmer union, 64, 65, 
divergence from Greek Church, 66- 
68: landed property, 70; English 
schism. 71, 85, 86; works and faith, 
72: unity, 73: relation to Luthera- 
nism, 77, 79 ; formulas in Protestant 
use, 88; in Anglican Church, 89; 
90: favorable reaction. 95: Calvin- 
istic opposition, 100; Presbyterian 
conflict, 103. 107; Sunday-observ- 
ance, 104; errors rejected 109, 110; 
missionary zeal, 123; trust in bap- 
tism, 124; persecution of Hussites, 
126: ecclesiastical system partially 
adopted by Protestants, 130; zeal, 
133: sweeping Poland, 164; esti- 
mate of Bible. 171. 

Rome: empire, 52, 60; city, 58. 

Roundheads of Liberalism, 162. 

Russia: Greek Church, 64, 65; elabo- 
rate ritual, 68; Protestantism, 78. 



204 



INDEX. 



s. 



Sabbath : Jewish observance, 4, 5 ; 
Presbyterian influence, 104; or Sat- 
turday, 122. 

Sacraments: differing opinions, 47- 
50; definition, 55, 56; in Greek 
Church, 66, 67; a channel of faith, 
72; priestly ministration, 73; num- 
ber, 74; Episcopal, 89, 90; Presby- 
terian, 103, 104; not essential to 
parish-membership, 113; Methodist, 
132; Quaker rejection, 143; Swed- 
enborgian, 152. (See Baptism and 
Eucharist.) 

Saint-worship, 57, 74. 

Salter, William M., iv, 180. 

Salvation Army: names, 135; devel- 
opment, 135, 136 ; growth and liter- 
ature, 136. 

Salvation: two theories, 34; Scriptu- 
ral support, 34, 35; extent and 
foreordination, 35, 36; personal 
crisis, channels of grace, attain- 
ment, 37 ; questions, 38 ; books, 
39; universal, 42; Calvinistic view, 
104, 105; Methodist, 132. (See 
Atonement, Conversion, Eternal, 
Universalism.) 

Sanctification, 37. 38. 

Satan and Sin, 29. 

Savoy Confession, 110. 

Scotland: early missionaries, 85; 
bishops, 87; established church, 91; 
Calvinism, 100; religious revolu- 
tion, 100, 101; leaders, 101; emi- 
gration, 102; Genevan ideal, 103; 
churches, • 106 ; Universalist ele- 
ment, 161; Unitarian, 175. 

Scriptural Party, 72. 

Scriptures. (See Bible.) 

Scrooby Church, 110. 

Seabury, Bishop, 87. ■ 

Second Advent of Jesus, 40, 41. (See 
Adventists.) 

Semitic Race, 1, 2. 

Servetus, 23, 26, 164. 

Seventh Day Adventists, 155. 



Seventh Day Baptists, 122. 

Shinto Sect, 11. 

Sin : beginning, 29, 30 ;. consequences, 
57. (See Adam, Atonement, Eter- 
nal, Guilt, Human Nature.) 

Six-Principle Baptists, 122. 

Smith, Joseph, 187, 188. 

Smyth, John, 119, 120. 

Socinianism, 163. 

Socinus, Laelius and Faustus: rejec- 
tion of the Trinity, 23, 27 ; Pelagi- 
anism, 31, 32; earlv influence, 164, 
165. 

Southern States: Baptists, 120,121; 
Methodists, 133 ; Romanists, 57. 

Spain, liberalism in, 176. 

Sparks, Jared, 167. 

Spiritualism: literary aid, iv; wide 
definition, 181; ancient and modern, 
182; creedless, 182, 183; main 
belief, 183, 184; sensitiveness, 183 ; 
variations in opinion, Biblical inci- 
dents, 184 ; difficulties in supernatu- 
ralism, 184, 185; influence and ser- 
vice, 185, 186; questions, 106; liter- 
ature, 186, 187. 

Stanley, Dean, 43, 86, 159. 

Sunday-schools: Baptist, 122; Chris- 
tian Baptist and Campbellite, 138; 
Congregationalist, 115; Episcopal, 
93;- Methodist, 132,133; Quaker, 
145; Reformed Episcopal, 98; Swe- 
denborgian, 151, 152; Unitarian, 
175; Universalist, 161; summary, 
75. 

Swedenborg: career and works, 147- 
154. 

Swedenborgians. (See Neio Jerusa- 
lem Church.) 

Sweden: religion, 78; bishops con- 
verted, 80; liberalism, 176. 

Switzerland: Calvinism, 71, 100; lib- 
eralism, 164, 176. 

Syllabus of Errors, 53. 

Synods, Greek, 68. (See Dort, and 
other special names.) 



INDEX. 



205 



Talmud, 3. 

Taxation for Churches: in England, 
92; in New England, 111. 

Temperance: among Universalists, 
162; Mormons, 189. 

Temple, Dr., 86. 

Temple: rebuilt, 2; and synagogue, 
5; sacrifices, 35. 

Tennent, Gilbert, 166. 

Tertullian, 23. 

Teutonic Race, 63, 71. 

Thirty-nine Articles : adopted, 86, 88; 
reduced, 86, 96, 97. 

Tithes, Mormon, 189. 

Titles, disused, 144. 

Tobacco, 189. 

Toledo Council, 65. 

Toryism, 116. 

Total Depravity : general belief, 29, 
30: Calvinistic, 104; Methodist, 
132, 134. (See Human Nature and 
Sin.) 

Tractarianism : movement, 86, 87 ; 
leaders, 87, 95. 

Transcendentalism, 167, 168. 

Transubstantiation, 50, 55, 74, 79, 86, 
97, 103. (See Consubstantiation, 
Eucharist.) 

Transylvania, 78, 163, 164, 176. 

Trent Council, 31, 53, 87. 

Trinity: not stated in the Bible, 22; 
word, doctrinal history, questions, 
22, 23; Catholic view, 58; true form, 
65; in creeds, 66; sectarian agree- 
ment, 74; Anglican view, 90; Calvi- 
nistic, 105 : Congregational, 114, 115, 
117; Methodist, 132, 134; denials, 
122,137,138; opinions of Sweden- 
borgians, 149. 152; Universalists, 
158, 160; Unitarians, 163-175; Mor- 
mons, 188; Sabellian theory, 158, 
159; disbelief punishable as blas- 
phemy, 165. (See God, Holy Spirit, 
Jesus. ) 

Tunkers, 122. 



u. 

Unitarian Books : on doctrinal de- 
ferences, 13; on creeds, 17; on au- 
thority, 21 ; on Trinity, and deity of 
Jesus, 28, 29 ; on human nature, 33 ; 
on salvation, atonement, and kin- 
dred topics, 39; on future lffe, 44, 
109; on church and sacraments, 51, 
125 ; on Christian history, 61, 62, 
82 ; on Episcopal Church, 96 ; on Cal- 
vinism, 117 ; on Congregationalism, 
118, 125,147; on Quakerism, 147; 
on Swedenborgianism, 153; on Uni- 
tarian history and doctrines, 177, 
178. 

Unitarian Churches: creeds, 13, 14; 
congregational organization, 46, 109, 

116, 172; Presbyterian, 106, 107, 
163, 165; New England schism, 112; 
original parishes, 116 ; Old Con- 
nection, 120; first, 165; denomina- 
tional formation, 165-167; polity, 
168, 169; covenants and confer- 
ences, 169, 170; American, 175; 
English, 175, 176; European, 176. 

Unitarianism : difficulty of statement, 
v; Jewish ideas, 7, 8; teachers, 19; 
relation to Biblical authority, 21, 
171, 172, 177; views of incarnation, 
27; of human nature, 28-33; origin 
of modern, 28; view of the atone- 
ment, 34, 38, 173 ; rejection of pre- 
destination, 35 ; theory of heredity, 
35; conversion, 36, 173, 174; justi- 
fication and sanctification, 37, 38 ; 
divine judgment, 42, 177; future 
punishment, 43, 44, 174; relation to 
Romanism, 59-62, 63; relation to 
the Greek Church, 69 ; swiftly mov- 
ing tendencies, 71; rationalism, 72; 
Protestantism, 75/ 76; relations 
with Lutheranism, 81, 82; with 
Congregationalism, 109, 112, 116, 

117, 168, 169; the great defection, 
112; relations with Methodism, 133; 
with Campbellites, and similar mi- 
nor sects, 139 ; with Quakerism, 145, 



206 



INDEX. 



146; Swedenborgianism, 152, 153; 
Universalism, 159-163; age, 164, 
176; historic reappearance, 164; 
prosperity, 165; English founders, 
165, 176"; in New England, 165- 
167, 176; relation to Arminianism, 
166,; separation, 167, 168; vocation, 
168; tendencies rather than opin- 
ions, 170; two distinctive ideas, 170- 
172 ; reason, 170, 171 ; miracles, 171 ; 
virtues and graces of common life, 
171, 172; future life, 174; negations, 
170, 177; questions, 176, 177; doc- 
trines, 170, 177. 

Unitarians : criticised, iii ; literary aid, 
iv: classified, 11, 12; creedless, 13; 
rejection of authority, 18-21 ; belief 
in inspiration, 19, 20; views as to 
the godhead, 22, 23; ancient and 
modern, 23; Polish, 27; Pelagianism, 
32 ; calmness in death, 40 ; disbelief 
in endless misery, 43 ; ecclesiastical 
forms, 46, 47, 49-51, 174; sympathy 
with Catholicism, 59, 60; the only 
true Protestants, 75; excluded, 71; 
dread of insincerity, 107 ; indebted- 
ness to Baptists, 123 ; to Methodists, 
133; Quaker adherents, 142; com- 
pared with Universalists, 161, 163; 
martyrs, 164; organizations, 168; 
platforms, 169; rationalism, 171; 
opinions about Jesus, 172, 173; 
character above creed, 171-173; 
faults, worship, and theological ig- 
norance, 174, 175; non-attendance 
at church, 175; statistics, 175, 176; 
policy, 177 ; radical unity with the 
Ethical Movement, 180, 181; views 
of Spiritualism, 185, 186. (See 
Liberal.) 

United Brethren, 125-130. 

United States: Jews, 7; liberal theol- 
ogy, 27; sacramental Hifferer/ees, 
50; Roman Catholics, 53, 54, 59; 
de "ininational numbers, 75; Lu- 
therans, 80, 81; Dutch Reformed 
Church, 82-84; Episcopalians, 87, 
88, 92, 93; Presbyterians, 102, 103, 



106; Reformed Churches, 106; In- 
dependents, 110; Congregation al- 
ists, 115, 116; Moravians, 126; 
Methodists, 129, 133; Quakers,. 140- 
142; Swedenborgians, 148; Univer- 
salists, 159-161; Unitarians, 163- 
178; Ethical Movement, 179, 180; 
Mormons, 188. 

Unity of God: consensus of belief, 22; 
ancient doctrine, 164. (See God, 
Trinity.) 

Universalism: grand protest, 43; 
name and early advocates, 158; his- 
tory and American preachers, 158, 
159; eternal hope, 159; doctrines, 
159, 160; use of Scriptures, 160; 
relation to Unitarianism, 161, 162; 
questions, 162, 163; books, 163. 

Universalists: literary aid, iv; denial 
of Trinity, 22 ; believe in Judgment, 
42; church basis, 47; excluded, 71; 
platform, 159, 160; worship and 
organization, 160; statistics, 161; 
conservatism, democracy, and phi- 
lanthropy, 162. 

Utab, 187,' 188. 



V. 



Vatican Council, 62, 63. 

Vestments, 56, 84, 109. 

Vicarious Atonement, 34. (See 
Atonement.) 

Virginia Baptists, 120. 

Virgin Mary: Mother of God. 26. 65; 
adored in place of Jesus, 27; im- 
maculately conceived, 53; homage 
paid, 57, 66; and withheld, 74. 

Vulgate, 73. 



w. 

Waldenses, 119. 

Wales: church-historv, 85; establish- 
ment, 91; Congregationalism, 109; 
Unitarianism, 165, 175. 

Wallace, Alfred Russell, 182, 186. 



INDEX. 



207 



Ware, Henry, 167. 

Watch-meetings, 132. 

Wesley, Charles, 128. 

Wesley, John: career and opinions, 
126-131; works, 135. 

Western Church, 31. (See Eastern, 
Latin, Roman.) 

Western Conference, 105, 106. 

Western States: Methodists, 133; 
Christian Baptists, 138, 139; lib- 
eralism, 168, 169, 175. 

Westminster Catechism, 103, 111. 

Westminster Confession : on the Bible, 
18 ; on salvation, 43 ; adopted by 
Reformed Church, 84; by Presby- 
terians, 102, 103; on the Sabbath, 
104; used by Congregationalists, 
110; in Xew England, 114. 

Whateley, Archbishop, 86. 

Whewell, William, v. 

Whitefield, George, 112, 127, 128, 158, 
166. 

Whittier, John Greenleaf, poetry, 29, 
39. 



Wiggles worth's Poem, 109, 114. 

Wightman, Edward, 164. 

Wilbur, John, 142. 

Williams, Roger, 120. 

Winchester Prof ssion of Faith, 159, 
160. 

WiLebrennarians, 122. 

Women Preachers, 144. 

Worship: Catholic, 56, 57; not con- 
nected with the Ethical Movement, 
180. (See Prayer, Sacraments.) 



Y. 

Young, Bkigham, 187. 



Zixzendorf, Count, 126. 
Zurich, Baptist doctrine, 119. 
Zwingli: view of sacraments, 50; 
differing from Luther, 71. 



